20.10.09 - Horse Sector Joint Letter to The Times Urges Government to Rethink Cost Sharing Plans

Organisations representing all sections of the horse community have united to co-sign a letter to The Times calling on the Government to rethink its plans on Responsibility and Cost Sharing for Animal Health.

The letter, as it appeared in The Times, is reproduced below – please help the campaign by forwarding this to anyone you know who may be interested in Rethink the Horse Tax and ask them to sign the Petition and write to their MPs!

Tax on horses would be an unfair burden

Sir, We represent millions of people who work with and ride horses, and have joined forces to ask this Government to think again about its plans to impose a new tax, in all but name, and a £50-million-plus animal health quango on all horse owners in Britain.

The Government’s responsibility and cost-sharing proposals would serve to shift responsibility for managing outbreaks of animal disease away from ministers, breaking the vital link between health and welfare, while hitting horse owners with a new estimated charge of £10.50 per horse each year and perhaps as much as ten times this amount. The initial additional administrative cost to the taxpayer will be £14.3 million.

At a time of recession and cutbacks in public expenditure, it is an unnecessary use of public money to create a complex new layer of government administration, which would cause severe fragmentation in the delivery of essential animal health and welfare services when existing, less expensive solutions could be maintained. And this expenditure would bring no new benefit for horse health and welfare.

To rural communities, horse owners in the cities or countryside, and to equine businesses that are already struggling through difficult economic times, a significant charge for absolutely no benefit to fund a new quango is yet another unwarranted and unfair burden. We hope the Government will think again.

Andrew Finding
British Equestrian Federation

Claire Williams
British Equestrian Trade Association

Chris House
The British Equine Veterinary Association

Graham Cory
British Horse Society

Professor Tim Morris
British Horseracing Authority

Louise Kemble
Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

Rupert Arnold
National Trainers Federation

Roly Owers
World Horse Welfare

Terry Court
Welsh Pony and Cob Society

Michael Harris
Racehorse Owners Association

www.rethinkthehorsetax.org

To read this letter on The Times’ website, click on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/yks5k68

← Back to the News Index

This Latest News article was created on 20th October 2009

Latest News

11-11-09 - Proposed Body for Animal Health to Inherit the RPA’s Problems?

The Government has come under fire in recent weeks for the way in which...