End to branding of horses and ponies in sight

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 16:19

Advocates for Animals has welcomed proposals by the Scottish Government to end the use of hot branding for horses and ponies in Scotland. Along with equine welfare organisations, MSPs and a number of individuals including Borders vet Alex Copland, we have repeatedly called for hot branding to be outlawed.

 

Hot branding is an old-fashioned means of identifying horses which has largely died out but continues to be used by certain breed societies: hot metal irons are used to brand a number onto the animal’s skin, so that the resultant scarring creates a permanent mark.

Richard Lochhead MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, now proposes to remove the exemption for hot branding of equine animals, making the hot branding of any equine animal in Scotland an offence.  A consultation on the issue was launched at the end of December, and while it is in progress no further authorisations will be issued to hot brand horses in Scotland.

Advocates for Animals’ Policy Director, Libby Anderson, said: “Both the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Veterinary Association have described hot branding as painful and there is simply no need for it in this day and age.  We are delighted that the Cabinet Secretary is taking steps to outlaw the practice and we hope that this initiative will influence the other UK administrations to abolish an outmoded and unnecessary practice.

“Advocates for Animals congratulates Alex Copland for his dedication to combating hot branding, and we thank Christine Grahame MSP and Bill Wilson MSP for taking the matter up with the Scottish Parliament and Government, through a parliamentary motion and correspondence with the Cabinet Secretary.”

Notes

• Currently, hot branding of equine animals is permitted in Scotland under the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, although specific authorisation must be granted by Scottish Ministers. Since the Regulations came into effect, authorisations have only been requested for a small number of Exmoor ponies.
• In the 2006 report Painful Reality: why painful mutilations must be reviewed, Advocates for Animals recommended, referring to hot branding: “With modern techniques of electronic identification available, these practices should be prohibited.”  In the response to the consultation on the 2007 Regulations, Advocates for Animals commented:“[..] This legislation currently permits, for example, the hot branding of horses by an unqualified person, without administering pain relief.  This is unnecessary and inhumane.  Hot branding of horses should not be exempted.  It is very little used nowadays and is a primitive means of identification which has been superseded.”
• The case for hot branding has been considerably weakened by recent changes in the horse passports legislation, following Commission Regulation (EC) No. 504/2008, so that since July 2009 all horses and ponies have had to be microchipped.
• In England, the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 allow hot branding of equines to be carried out without any specific authorisation.