On 17 March 2026, a horse was found dead on Winterbourne Road in Stoke Gifford. Avon and Somerset Police said the horse may have been pulling a cart with two males on board beforehand, and they appealed for dashcam or phone footage while enquiries continue. This incident has deeply upset our community and raised an urgent question: how many warning signs are being missed before a horse suffers or dies on a public road? 

Animal cruelty is already illegal. In England, equines are also required to be identified by passport and microchip. But the current system still does not appear strong enough to prevent harm before it happens. The Department for Transport’s code for horse-drawn vehicles says the road driving assessment is not a compulsory requirement for those simply wishing to drive horses, while a clear licensing requirement exists if a horse and carriage is being used for paying customers. That leaves a gap between general welfare law and strong, consistent prevention and roadside enforcement. 

In Bristol, Stoke Gifford and the surrounding area, many local people are alarmed by the repeated sight of horses being used to pull carts on public roads and even taken into local parks for a “spin”. People are worried about very young horses, horses that may be unfit, horses with no obvious identification, and animals being worked in heat, traffic and unsafe conditions. A horse cannot tell us when it is exhausted, frightened, in pain or being pushed beyond what its body can cope with. By the time the suffering is visible, it may already be too late.

That is why this petition is calling for more than just outrage after the fact. We need a compulsory national licensing or registration scheme for any horse used to pull a vehicle on a public road, backed by real legal safeguards that stop overwork and suffering before tragedy happens.

We are calling for:

a legal minimum age and minimum fitness standard for any horse used to pull a vehicle on a public road;

mandatory roadside passport and microchip checks;

compulsory veterinary fitness certification for working horses, with regular inspections;

enforceable welfare-based rules on workload, weather exposure, rest, water, harness fit and speed;

and clear powers for police or authorised officers to stop, inspect and seize horses where welfare is at risk.

This is not an extreme demand. Existing UK government guidance recommends that horses used for the carriage of passengers should be at least six years old, and DEFRA’s horse welfare code recommends that working horses receive at least an annual veterinary inspection to certify that they are fit for purpose. The problem is that guidance is not enough when horses are still being put at risk in public. 

No horse should have to die on a public road before people decide enough is enough. This campaign is about prevention. It is about giving authorities the power and the duty to step in sooner. It is about protecting horses from being overworked, protecting the public from dangerous situations on roads and in parks, and making sure another animal does not pay the price for weak enforcement.

Please sign and share this petition to help protect horses and make our roads, parks and communities safer.