Horses & Law
Equestrian Sports and Equine wellbeing: Laws do exist
Owner’s duty of knowledge and awareness
Michela Masoero Layer
For some time, we have been listening to debates about the welfare of horses involved in sport and too often we talk about animal exploitation.
Out of court, I myself am an animal lover and I shudder when faced with abuse towards any animal, not just horses.
However, there is a fine line and misconception that leads to misrepresenting what it means to do sport with our horse, considering him a ‘team member’, and what exploitation or, worse, mistreatment of the horse is.
Every rider, instructor, groom or simply lover of the horses should have knowledge of what animal welfare is, as well as of all the regulations that surround the equestrian and animal sphere.
Equestrian sport is not responsible of equine well-being.
The sole and exclusive culprit of an animal’s discomfort is exclusively the owner/rider. Whatever the reason is for owning an animal, owners and riders are the only ones responsible for their wellbeing or mistreatments.
The coexistence of equestrian sport with equine well-being is possible, but it is necessary that every athlete, every visitor, sector worker or other person involved in the equestrian world is aware of what equine well-being means and of the legislation that encompasses the animal world, and he is responsible to the enforce them.
Below are the regulations for the protection of animals.
European Union Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) states that the European Union itself and the Member States must take ‘full account of the welfare requirements of animals as sentient beings’.
France The Civil Code (art. 528) recognizes animals as ‘être vivant doué de sensibilité’ (living beings endowed with sensitivity). Definition similar to the one already introduced in the civil codes of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
ITALIAN CONSTITUTION With the modification of art. 9 of the Constitutional Chart, animals are finally subject to protection by the Italian State.
Penal Code In Italy, art. 544ter requires imprisonment from three to eighteen months or fines from 5,000 up to 30,000 euros of ‘Whoever, cruelly or unnecessarily, causes harm to an animal or tortures it or forces it to unnecessary fatigue or work, that is unbearable due to its ethological characteristics’, as well as ‘anyone who administers narcotic or prohibited substances to animals or subjects them to treatments that cause damage to their health.
The penalty is increased by half where any of the above mistreatments cause the death of the animal.
To recognise any mistreatment as a crime there mustn’t necessarily be any physical injury, but the suffering of the animals is sufficient: the law aims to protect them as living beings capable of perceiving pain.
Article 727 instead punishes ‘anyone who abandons domestic animals or those who has lived in captivity’, as well as ‘anyone who keeps animals in conditions incompatible with their nature which produce serious suffering’.
Italian Ministry of Health The ordinance of the 21st of July 2011 for the protection of horses (later renewed), the Code for the protection and management of horses and the ethical chart for their protection.
The horse as an ‘athlete’ The sports horse is legally recognized as an athlete. (Decree no. 36 – 28/02 2021)
Ministry and national data register The Decree of the 30th of September 2021, in implementation of the EU Regulations, established the new registry of horses, the so-called I&R system, with more stringent rules and implementing sanctions.
DPR 31.03.1979 – Animal protection Art. 3 attributes to the Mayor of each Municipality the supervision of compliance with the laws and regulations relating to the protection of animals living in the municipal territory.
REG CE 1/2005– Transport of horses ‘No animal unsuitable for the intended journey may not transported’ […] ‘No one is authorized to transport or have transported animals in conditions that expose them to injury or unnecessary suffering.’
The legislation contains a long list of situations in which animals cannot be transported as well as providing strict rules relating to means of transport.
FEI REGULATIONS
Antidoping In accordance to the World Anti-Doping Code issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the FEI has adopted two Regulations (ECM-EAD), which enforce the responsibilities, obligations and penalties for riders, owners and operators.
Health checks During each FEI competition, health checks for horses will be carried out. Also, vaccinations and passport will be checked. Any violation of equine health will be sanctioned, as will be the concealment of injuries or illnesses.
Ethics Commission This has been established to safeguard the well-being of every horse involved in sporting activity.
