Eating pet horses is being banned under new EU legislation
'I pledge not to eat my pet horse'
Monday, June 22, 2009
Eating pet horses is being banned under new EU legislation, it has been reported.
The rule is aimed at continental Europe where two million horses are reportedly eaten every year.
But horse and pony owners in Britain will also have to be signed up.
Anyone who refuses to sign up to the regulations could face prison or an unlimited fine, according to The Sun.
The ban is part of the new Horse Identification Regulations.
The rules, which will come into force at the beginning of next month, is partly to stop vets' drugs from entering human diets.
Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, told the newspaper: "I'd like to be a fly on the wall when the Queen and Princess Anne are asked to sign a form saying they're not going to eat their horses.
"Measures to stop the trade in horse flesh may be a good thing. But any common sense in Brussels is drowned by the sheer weight of ludicrouse suggestions."
A European Commission spokesman said the Government had agreed to the directive.
The new regulations come into force on July 1.
Horses born after this date, and those born before June 30 who have not been issued a horse passport, will also have a microchip implanted.
