Trading Standards visiting yards to check passports

Yes the animal health officers work in the trading standards office and are paid by defra!!!! all very complicated but they are the people who police animal (stock) movements, paperwork and therefore horse passports and now microchipping (although I'm not sure if they are checking them yet!). (they also do welfare visits), Anyway they have started doing random vehicle stops with police to check horses being transported have passports with them, therefore it would not surprise me if they had started in some areas to check yards too.
 
Now you put it like that, of course, it's TSO who keep on and on asking for all our livestock movement records to check.
I think they pick us cos we're tiny, and have very, very few, but I imagine we're still a holding ticked off as checked!

What's the logic - I mean, would they check a yard at someone's house, or are they only interested in business premises. Do commercial yards have holding numbers?
 
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Of course they WILL be checking all the travellers horses they pass while travelling to your yard, wont they, yea right.

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I would want to be there myself, wiht my passports in my habd, and see the person and their credentials. If they are from Trading Standards or DEFRA - they will hunt in pairs as a witness is needed.

Better a safe pain in the ass, than a sorry ripped off one.
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I would want to be there myself, wiht my passports in my habd, and see the person and their credentials. If they are from Trading Standards or DEFRA - they will hunt in pairs as a witness is needed.

Better a safe pain in the ass, than a sorry ripped off one.
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Well they don't 'hunt in pairs' around here!!! They will have id with them though, and of course you can phone the office direct and find out the name of the officer coming to compare to the name given by the officer on arrival.
 
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Trading standards in these areas must have a real bee in their bonnet about horses and passports. Because when you contact them about cases where there has actually been malpractice, the general response is that they will keep your letter on file but they don't have the resources to deal with it.

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My local TS is the opposite, I think. I KNOW they are following up a couple of mis-sold horse cases (dodgy dealers who have sold horses that were not as described) but I had to explain horse passports in detail to one TS officer as he didn't have a clue about them.
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Thats brilliant. I've tried Trading Standards in Edinburgh, West Lothian and Aberdeen and got the same distinterested response from all of them. i was told they only targetted certain consumer issues in their area that were causing concern. Its great to hear that they are doing what they are supposed to do.

But I still feel the horse world is being unfairly targetted by many enforcement agencies right now, when other areas seem to be completely ignored.
 
SMID why do you say because a witness will be needed???? Police, rspca, whw, bhs all do visits alone, sometimes they have a partner but often not..... that certainly includes animal health/trading standards around here... I don't understand what's supposed to be witnessed?
 
This could be legit, as TS do do this, at the same time, it has been used as a con to view potentila horses for theft. Make sure that the people who come are official, they will have offical tags, better still, ring your local TS to confirm the visit.

As said, it is TS who Police horse passports.
 
I certainly would not get my horse in for someone coming around doing this and his passport lives at home. If he wants to see my horse, he can go out in the field and find him! If he wants to see his passport, he can make an appointment to visit me at home. Jumped up little Eichman!
 
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