Legislation from Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is being finalized, which would require all horses to be tagged with an ID micro-chip and valid passport issued from an approved stud-book or agency, according to local news reports.
Officials say this new legislation came from the need to better ensure and protect the health and welfare of horses, given their long life span and potential for multiple transfers of ownership.
“The current system is limited to maintaining records at the time the passport is first issued, which means any investigation of an animal health or welfare nature relating to an equine animal may necessitate manual forward tracing from first registration,” said agriculture minister Brendan Smith.
The new system would enhance ability to notify and record the movement and transfer of ownership from one person responsible for the health and welfare of an equine animal to another.
If passed into Irish law, the registration process for all newborn foals would need to be completed by December 31 of the year of birth, or six months, whichever occurs later.
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