Fly-grazing law must not prove a ‘missed opportunity’ as Welsh Conservatives unveil worrying new figures

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Local Authorities enforcing legislation aimed at tackling fly-grazing and equine abandonment need more support, to ensure the law doesn’t become “toothless” and a “missed opportunity”.

That’s according to the Welsh Conservatives – who have uncovered new figures which show declining, and sporadic, use of the Control of Horses (Wales) Act 2014.

268 equines were seized under the legislation in 2015, a decline of 40 percent on the previous calendar year. This is despite Assembly Members still being inundated with concerns about local fly-grazing hot spots.

The Act had been used to seize 449 equines in the previous year.

Whilst fly-grazing prevalence varies across Wales, Welsh Conservatives can also reveal that 13 Councils did not utilise the powers at all in 2015, up from ten in 2014.

The findings from the Welsh Conservatives also suggest that the majority of horses seized under the Act are not destroyed, and are often returned to an owner, or rehomed – yet, without effective enforcement, many equines risk being left in unsatisfactory situations.

Welsh Conservatives had previously campaigned for Labour Ministers to bring forward proposals which addressed the issue of fly-grazing and equine abandonment, which can lead to both animal welfare and public safety problems.

Andrew RT Davies AM, Welsh Conservative leader, previously proposed backbench legislation aimed at improving the lot of Wales’ equine population, and in January 2014 a new law was passed, via an expedited process, to equip Councils with new tools to deal with the issue. However, this new data raises major question marks as to the support the Welsh Government is providing to Local Authorities to deliver effective enforcement.

Andrew RT Davies AM said:

“Whilst the legislation was a welcome step forward for public safety, and had the potential to protect animal welfare, it risks proving toothless without robust, consistent enforcement in affected areas across Wales.

“Our figures suggest that without proper support for enforcement bodies, this piece of legislation could amount to a missed opportunity in the battle to tackle fly-grazing, which has blighted many communities across Wales.

“Across my own region of South Wales Central, and many other parts of Wales, fly-grazing remains a major issue, and Local Authorities must be supported to utilise their legislative toolkit to protect equines and community safety.”

Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, Paul Davies AM added:

“The Control of Horses (Wales) Act 2014 was introduced as an urgent response to fly-grazing and equine abandonment issues across Wales, but clearly more needs to be done to ensure this law is better utilised. 

“Inconsistent enforcement across Wales risks displacement of the problem, and it is important this Labour administration works to support, and equip, all Councils with the knowledge and tools to tackle the fly-grazing menace.

“We’ve seen that where the Act is used, equines are often removed from unsatisfactory conditions and returned to owners or rehomed. However, without adequate support, a lack of enforcement risks welfare issues emerging, and community safety being compromised.”

  Number of horses seized in both the 2014 and 2015 calendar years Money spent seizing, impounding, feeding and maintaining horses, and how much was recouped Number of horses returned to owner, sold or destroyed
Council 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015
Blaenau Gwent 50 (inc joint operation with Caerphilly) 0 £3,845, towards joint operation with Caerphilly
(£3,500 WG grant, £345 Llanover contribution)
0 All seized horses were put in to the care of specialist charities 0
Bridgend 30 8 Spent £6292.83, Recouped £2300 Spent £2772.35, Recouped £288 Returned to owner – 16
Destroyed – 14
Returned to owner – 2
Rehomed via charity – 2
Destroyed – 4
Caerphilly 51 (inc joint operation with Blaenau Gwent) 0 £430 towards operation, of which £180 recouped N/A 49 horses signed over to animal charities, 1 reclaimed, 1 rehomed N/A
Cardiff 63 86 £31,335 (2014/15 financial year)
£1,854.00 recovered
£50,486 (2015/16 financial year)
£2,269.00, recovered
Returned to owner – 33
Rehomed – 29
Humanely destroyed – 12
Returned to owner – 26
Rehomed – 47
Humanely destroyed – 11
Carms 38 10 £10138.86, of which £454.00 recouped £2074.68, of which £574.00 recouped Returned to owner – 2
Re-homed (not sold) – 14
Destroyed – 17
Returned to owner – 1
Re-homed (not sold) – 9
Destroyed – 0
Ceredigion 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Conwy 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Denbighshire 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Flintshire 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Gwynedd 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Isle of Anglesey 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Merthyr Tydfil 5 7 £3,324.00, £0 recouped £3,568.00, £1,030 recouped. 5 rehomed 3 returned to owner, 4 rehomed
Monmouthshire 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
NPT 1 1 £500, not recouped No costs incurred, horse adopted by landowner Horse rehomed Horse rehomed
Newport 13* Data not given £4,869.00 0 horses destroyed

3 returned to owner

10 sent to sanctuary*

Pembrokeshire 0 2 N/A £612.40 – all recovered N/A Both horses returned to owner
Powys 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
RCT 1 0 In-house facilities used N/A Horse humanely destroyed N/A
Swansea 230 135 £65k, £4,016 to be recouped £65k, £1,848 to be recouped Claimed – 60
Destroyed – 78
To rescue – 75
Claimed – 26
Destroyed – 3
To rescue – 100
Torfaen 0 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Vale of Glam 20 12 £3360.40, no money was recouped. £5049.00, no money was recouped. No horses were returned to an owner, sold or destroyed. 15 horses were removed by unknown parties after seizure in situ. No horses were returned to an owner, sold or destroyed.
Wrexham 4 0 Costings information not held, no money recouped. Costings information not held, no money recouped. 2 equines were returned to their owner, 1 was rehomed and 1 was euthanased under veterinary advice due to welfare issues N/A

* = Newport Council was unable to split the data between 2014 and 2015 for the equines seized. As such, for the purposes of this piece, the numbers have been divided between the two calendar years.


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