New law will help
farmers blighted
by flygrazing
FARMERS and landowners will be given greater powers
to deal with horses left illegally on their land thanks to new
legislation. The Control of Horses Bill will help to deter and
swiftly resolve cases of horses left illegally on private land. It
has been welcomed by the CLA and the NFU whose members
are repeatedly affected.
CLA deputy President Ross Murray said: “We are delighted
that farmers and landowners will at last be able to deal with
fly-grazed horses in a timely, humane and cost-effective
manner without damage to land or at risk of liability for horses
left illegally on their land. In its original form, the Bill would
have put our members at a disadvantage by not allowing them
the same controls as local authorities so we are pleased the
Government has now responded to our concerns by extending
powers in the Bill to private landowners.”
The CLA has worked closely with several other rural
organisations and animal welfare charities for some time to
ensure the Control of Horses Bill made it through Parliament.
‘Stop the scourge - time to address unlawful fly-grazing
in England’, a landmark report launched to highlight
the increasing problem of fly-grazing was published last
September.
NFU deputy president Minette Batters added:
“The new legislation will enable farmers and landowners
to remove unwanted horses from their land and in a much
more straightforward way while action will be less expensive
to take. Farmers can suffer significant
financial losses caused by flygrazing so
they need the option of taking action
quickly to reduce or prevent damage.
The law will also make a big difference
to horse welfare, as charities have been
struggling to help the thousands of horses
being bred indiscriminately and kept
without proper care.”