Mike welcomes action against abandoned horses

New legislation designed to target those who deliberately abandon or “fly graze” their horses in Wales has been given the thumbs up by one Swansea Labour AM.

The Control of Horses (Wales) Bill, which was introduced to the National Assembly this month by Natural Resources Minister Alun Davies, will provided new identical powers to all Welsh councils to seize, impound, return to the owner, and, as a last resort, euthanize horses by humane means when they are on land without lawful consent. The legislation will also allow local authorities to recover costs reasonably incurred from the owners of horses in such circumstances.

The Bill follows on from a consultation that was launched by the Welsh Government on the issue earlier this year, where the vast majority of responses backed the need to bring in improved legislation to deal with the growing problem.

Speaking on the Control of Horses (Wales) Bill, local AM Mike Hedges said:

“I’m sad to say that fly grazing is a growing problem in our communities. I get contacted regularly by residents living in the Clase, Penplas, Penlan, Blaenymaes and Birchgrove areas to express concern over the number of abandoned horses and ponies that roam around on both public and private land.  

“Unfortunately, the current legislation in place is inadequate and only applies in certain areas, which is why we need new legislation to give all local councils the powers to effectively deal with this problem as well as protect the public and the environment from the nuisance caused by fly grazing.”