The long summer (?) political recess is over and the
party conference season is upon us. I
look forward to seeing you at Congress, where the Firing, Insurance and
Paraprofessional debates should provide the intrigue, passion and stalemate
that British politics provides. Meanwhile, the analogy continues in that a
couple of hot potatoes were served during the holidays.
The National Equine Database (NED) had its funding withdrawn unceremoniously and somewhat
suddenly by defra. There had been a
tendering process in place for NED and we had been awaiting the results of
this, not the complete abandonment of the project...
We are all aware that NED wasn’t quite fulfilling the
roles required but the general feeling was that it just needed to be better
supported, financially and with data input. Knowledge of where the horse lives
would be the primary requirement in the advent of a disease outbreak and this
information is sorely lacking in the database. Also, compliance with the
registration of change of ownership, horse death and horses with foreign
passports has been woefully inadequate. However, a paper written by Newton et
al indicated that despite its flaws the database certainly has its usefulness
for epidemiology, population statistics and so on. Furthermore despite this and
known difficulties in access, emphasis on the wrong data and many other issues,
NED is the only equine database we have.
We can’t just abandon it.
Interestingly, it appears that defra were advised to abandon NED on the advice of
the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England, (AHWBE) seemingly without consulting the equine industry “sector
council”. Despite some inevitable teething problems, since the formation of the
AHWBE the equine industry has been quite organised in putting a sector council
together, a confluence of the Equine Health and Welfare Strategy Group and the
British Horse Industry Confederation, so consultation would not have been
difficult.
BEVA has been involved in the defra passport expert group
since its beginning. Utopian plans for a single Passport Issuing Organisation
were unrealistic, but the 80 PIOs have organised themselves into a public
interest company and are keen to take the system forward. The British
Equestrian Federation is/was the sole shareholder of NED and BEVA is supporting them in plans to salvage the database, secure
funding and develop it into a more useful tool for disease surveillance and
contingency.
Meanwhile, questions are being asked in the House of
Commons as the Members return.....
The second hot potato is CEM, outbreak and how to handle them and the future of its
notifiable status. BEVA is a strong supporter and advocate of the
world-renowned HBLB Codes of Practice for Equine Diseases. There have been two
extended incidents of CEM this year, one involving an untested stallion in
Gloucestershire and the other, imported semen from Germany. Defra’s Core Group
of contacts have been kept informed, and this includes BEVA. The outbreaks and
extensive investigations that have followed and that are still ongoing, have
proved costly to government and defra and the AHVLA have made it clear that
this is not acceptable.
BEVA are fully supportive of CEM’s and other diseases’
notifiable status, but accepts that the cost of treatment and surveillance must
be borne by the owner and/or the industry – not government. Having notifiable
status, i.e. enforcement, is essential to ensure that such diseases can be
controlled. Under the “sector council” system described above, BEVA have a lead
role in coordinating changes that defra will bring in as budgets are cut.
Roly Owers, BEVA Treasurer and Chief Executive of World
Horse Welfare, chairs the Disease Coalition, a small group of experts from
across the industry. The Disease Coalition is the advisory group for the equine
industry sector council and I urge all sectors of our disparate industry to
appreciate this and to use it. Defra is aware that the high standards set by
the HBLB Codes of Practice are often not adopted by non-TB parts of the
breeding industry. BEVA, working through the Disease Coalition and feeding into
government by the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England, has a very
important role to play here.
Equine
veterinarians, whether working with hobby horses, competition horses,
thoroughbreds and even travellers must show a measured, coordinated and
professional approach in these hard and changing times. We should continue to
support the recommendations of the HBLB Codes, which will include updated
measures for AI, and commit to educating our clients about the importance of
disease control in the UK and its relevance to them.
