Please can someone educate me re. Horsetax?

Parkranger

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What exactly is it paying for or is it just a tax on us wealthy folk? (need an ironic smiley).

I can completely get on board with having to have a licence for a horse as some people should never be allowed them BUT I can't see where the government are going with this.

I'd also like to ask what HHO/Countryside Alliance and other pro equestrian organisations are going to do to help lobby this?
 
I *think* the reasoning behind this was that those directly affected by communicable diseases in livestock should pay for the control of the diseases. It was prompted by the costs of dealing with Foot and Mouth and similar outbreaks, and the reasoning is that the tax payer should not have to pay for this, there should be a dedicated tax.

That is the reasoning behind it, as far as I understand it, whether it makes any sense or not is an entirely different matter!

People have querried the likelihood of a similar type of costly epidemic in horses, the appropriateness of culling as the best method of control, the possible lack of decent insurance for horse owners as part of the scheme, etc.
 
See http://www.rethinkthehorsetax.org/
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People have querried the likelihood of a similar type of costly epidemic in horses, the appropriateness of culling as the best method of control, the possible lack of decent insurance for horse owners as part of the scheme, etc.

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Ahhh that would be the same thinking that decided that Iraq were holding weapons of mass destruction?
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People have querried the likelihood of a similar type of costly epidemic in horses, the appropriateness of culling as the best method of control, the possible lack of decent insurance for horse owners as part of the scheme, etc.

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Ahhh that would be the same thinking that decided that Iraq were holding weapons of mass destruction?
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Yes!!! Another one of the great moments of reasoning in human history, right up there with the work of Aristotle and Kant.
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Seriously though what is the matter with these people? I'm off to arrange lunch with my grandfather (a labour Lord) and will moan in his ear for a few hours about it!
 
I read in horse and hound this that defra havnt denied it could be any where up to £100, or would start lower and rise after a intail period,
 
I just find it ironic that its to cover the costs of a potential disease outbreak, yet all that would happen would be a mass cull and £1 compensation per animal.....you'd be better off saving your £100 each year and putting it away for the event that you have no choice in having your animal destroyed.
 
As with everything the government does, you're patted on the head and given the complete tosh that it's for the greater good.

Poppycock.

Makes me so bloody angry.
 
And the ridiculous thing - Foot & Mouth didn't even affect horses!

There has never been a mass outbreak of communicable diseases inthe horse community (excepting the odd strangles outbreak and that's easily treated!)
 
It's not about F&M or strangles though, it's about dieseases like West Nile Disease, or whatever it's called. I knew Passports would turn into some taxation sometime.
Also, why, if horses are treated like agricultural animals, why can't we be treated like this all the time, such as with Planning Permission for stables. One way or the other.
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We have a modest smallholding, every year we are sent a form asking how much land we have and to what use it is put, grazing/arable etc. It also asks what we have in the way of livestock, sheep, cattle, pigs and so on.

This year, for the first time it also included horses, which as far as I know have never been classed as livestock. I found this question a little disturbing, why on earth did they want to know if I kept a horse on the property ?

Answers on a post card please
 
What would we all do if DEFRA turned up at our field gates and told us they were having our horses culled to stop the spread of a disease?
 
Maybe the upside of us being treated like livestock holders, will mean I can shoot peoples dogs when they are trespassing in our fields, would be worth a £100.00 a year for the satisfaction.
 
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