Correspondence from Petitioner to Committee, 3 January 2013

Dear Sir/Madam,

Many thanks for your email of 13th December regarding our Petition raised by The Society for The Welfare of Horses and Ponies. 

Since delivering  this Petition in November 2011 both myself and Mrs. Jenny MacGregor MBE, Chairman of SWHP have been attending meetings of the Cross Party Group for the Horse and are aware of the recent action being taken as outlined in the attachment to your email.

Like many of the other Equine Welfare organisations we are full to capacity but somehow still manage to take in the most desperate cases (as we have done during Christmas from the Cardiff area).  There are still, throughout Wales, many hundreds of horses and young foals with no microchip or passport identification which makes tracing the owners an impossible task and whilst we often have a fair idea of ownership this cannot be confirmed without either microchip or passport. 

Many horses that are loose or abandoned in badly and inadequately fenced fields escape in search of food and cause a serious risk to human life when they end up on the roads.  This is in addition to the sheer neglect caused to these equines some who have already died being left in the fields causing further concern and risk of disease.

We look forward to further and robust progress being made to ensure that the Microchipping and Passport laws are enforced along with additional  stringent measures to improve the lives of so many horses in Wales.

Yours faithfully,

Sian Lloyd

The Society for The Welfare of Horses and Ponies