To safeguard the welfare of horses and ponies it is vital that a lifetime traceability system is introduced to cover Europe and the UK.  The movement of equines between these countries is fluid and the current flawed ID and passport system is open to abuse and fraud, as documented in several television documentaries (BBC Panorama 2021 and RTE Investigates Horses - Making a Killing (2024)).  A Lifetime traceability system that would include mandatory change of ownership notification will ensure more accountable and responsible horse ownership.  It will help combat equine theft, combat horse smuggling and will aid in the management of disease outbreaks.  For the countries that continue to eat horsemeat traceability is also essential to ensure Food Safety.  

The digital capability to implement this is available.  There is no excuse for not facilitating lifetime traceability.  It would most likely require a split between an equine's digital identity ( for purposes of ownership, identification, traceability and veterinary records) and his breed papers which could remain in the form of the current paper 'passport'.  Please sign this petition to ask the European Parliament and the UK Government to implement Lifetime Traceability for Equines.   We need to act now as it will still take far longer than we would like to for Data protection issues to be overcome and for a robust, fit for purpose system to be rolled out.  The first step is to ensure our Governments recognise the need for this and undertake to implement it

Thank you for your support.