Owners or keepers of equines (horse, ponies, donkeys or mules) in the Bailiwicks are recommended to ensure their equine is microchipped and has a passport, following recent changes in English legislation. This is to enable continued ease of exportation to the UK or EU, including for urgent veterinary treatment.
From 1st October 2020, in England, the microchipping of all equines became compulsory. This change was prompted by the new Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018. This compulsory microchipping includes equines born before 30th June 2009, which were previously excluded from mandatory chipping in the Horse Passport Regulations 2009. Owners or keepers of equines in England now have a legal obligation to have their equine microchipped and registered with the Central Equine Database.
The owner or keeper is responsible for keeping these details up to date and, whenever there is a change of keeper, the new keeper must ensure their details are recorded with the database within 30 days of the transfer.
There are a small number of equines in the Bailiwick which are not microchipped and therefore are not registered on the database and do not have a passport. Following this change in legislation, these animals will now require this in order to be identified before they could be exported to either the UK or EU. This includes for urgent veterinary treatment such as colic surgery, for example.
Owners or keepers should be aware that it can take some time to have a horse or pony microchipped and obtain a passport, which could be an obstacle with regard to seeking urgent veterinary treatment in the UK or EU. Therefore, if there is a possibility that you would want to export your equine for any reason, then you are advised to contact your vet to arrange having your equine microchipped and obtaining a passport.
Please note that the Equine Identifications (England) Regulations 2018 specifically require that a microchip may only be implanted in an equine by a veterinary surgeon.
