New regulations will only work if they have more teeth, says Carolyn Henderson
From 2020, it’s going to be chips with everything. All horses, ponies and donkeys will have to be microchipped and owners who don’t comply could be fined £200.
In one way, it’s good news in that it should help in the recovery of stolen animals. In another, it could leave a nasty taste in responsible owners’ mouths – because the irresponsible, heartless ones will carry on disregarding the law and dumping all their unwanted, unchipped animals.
Until now, microchipping regulations applied only to equines born since July 2009. From October 2020, they will extend to all.
No one would argue with Lord Gardiner, the government’s animal welfare minister, that it’s “completely unacceptable that horses and ponies are left abandoned every year by irresponsible owners”. But are the sort of people who dump animals going to toe the line and have their animals microchipped?
I doubt it. That’s why, in 1984, the dog licence system was dropped in Great Britain – because caring owners complied and irresponsible ones didn’t.
We have to start somewhere and in that regard, compulsory chipping must be a good thing. But any regulation can only be as effective as the way it is enforced, and that’s where the real problem lies.
Are the police going to send officers to check every field full of tethered ponies? Of course they aren’t; police forces are under-staffed and under pressure and checking equine microchips won’t even register on the radar. That’s assuming every police vehicle will be equipped with a scanner, which I doubt.
Is the RSPCA going to take on this role? I doubt it.
The government says that from October, this new law will enable police and local authorities to identify abandoned animals. How is it going to get around the fact that the people who abandon horses probably won’t even have passports for them, let alone had them microchipped?
They certainly aren’t going to be forced into action by threats of compliance notices, or – and this has been described as a “last resort” – by fines of “up to” £200. It’s often cheaper for them not to bother, especially if they have several horses.
If you’re the sort of person who abandons horses, you’re the sort of person who will deny that they belong to you if, by some miracle, the authorities track you down. Why would you microchip them and make the authorities’ job easier?
I would love to see this legislation have a positive effect. In theory, the potential is there, because compulsory microchipping of dogs is said to have reduced the number of strays by about 21%.
In practice, it needs more teeth. And until it gets them, the sad stories about abandoned horses will continue.