SUBMISSION FROM THE NATIONAL EQUINE WELFARE COUNCIL The National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC), which represents the equine welfare organisations on the attached list, welcomes the Animal Welfare Bill, and believe that when enacted, it will not only bring those guilty of cruelty and neglect to justice, but also will help prevent such cruelty and neglect actually happening. This legislation is long overdue, and will allow horse welfare organisations to become much more effective. Equine welfare is a highly specialised subject, and what constitutes abuse or neglect in the field is a subject for trained experts. With up to one million horses, ponies, donkeys and mules in the UK there will be an increased need for such experts, and if those provisions of the Bill covering a duty of care are to be properly enforced then a large and lengthy training programme will be required. That said, the Bill is a great step forward, and we urge you to give it your support in Parliament. NEWC MEMBERSHIP LIST Ada Cole Rescue Stables (Martin Burton) / Animal Health Trust (Ted Chandler) / Association of British Riding Schools (Carol Boulton) / Blue Cross (Kerstin Alford) / Bransby Home of Rest for Horses (Peter Hunt) / British Connemara Pony Society (R Blackburn) / British Equine Veterinary Association (Chris House) / British Eventing * (Peter Durrant) / British Horse Society (Helen Owens) / British Mule Society (Elizabeth Adams) / British Skewbald & Piebald Association (Linda Lodge) / Brooke Hospital for Animals (Mike Baker) / CAPS (Commoning Animals Protection Society) (Olive Collins) / Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary (Lyn Friel) / Dartmoor Livestock Protection Society (Georgina Dale) / Devon Horse & Pony Sanctuary (Sylvia Phillips) / Donkey Breed Society (Carol Morse) / Donkey Sanctuary (Martin Taggart) / Equine Grass Sickness Fund (Joyce McIntosh) / Essex Horse & Pony Protection Society (Sue Allery) / Exmoor Ponies In Conservation * (Tim Mackintosh) / Exmoor Pony Society (Susan McGeever) / Greatwood Caring for Retired Racehorses (Michael Yeadon) / HAPPA (Horses & Ponies Protection Assoc) (Ken Cranage) / Home of Rest for Horses (Claire Lett) / Horse Rescue Fund (Jackie Crook) / HorseWorld (Jerry Watkins) / Humane Slaughter Association (Tess Benson) / ILPH (Int League for the Protection of Horses) (John Smales) / Isle of Man Home of Rest for Old Horses (Liz Courtie) / Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary (Cherry Clarke) / ISPCA (Barbara Bent) / ISPCA (Irish Soc for Prev of Cruelty to Animals)(Helen Doran) / Jigsaw (Back House Horse Welf, Ass & Therapy Cent) (Sue Carr) / Jockey Club Veterinary Committee (Peter Webbon) / Lluest Horse & Pony Trust (Alun Jones) / Mill House Animal Sanctuary (Pat Hartley) / Moorcroft Racehorse Welfare Centre (Graham Oldfield) / Mountains Animal Sanctuary (Alan Fraser) / National Equine Defence Society (Tish Fearn) / National Pony Society (Blanche Miller) / Northern Counties Horse Protection Society (Tracy Holmes) / Racehorse Owners Association * (Michael Harris) / Redwings Horse Sanctuary (Nicolas de Brauwere) / Retraining of Racehorses * (Di Arbuthnot) / Riding for the Disabled (Rebecca Kemp) / RSPCA (David McDowell) / Shetland Pony Stud Book Society (Elaine Ward) / Society for the Welfare of Horses & Ponies (Alasdair & Jenny MacGregor) / Society for the Welfare of Horses & Ponies (North) (Rosie Hutchinson) / South Hants Horse & Pony Protection Society (John & Lynn Allen) / SPANA (Jeremy Hulme) / SPANA (Blanche Miller) / SPEAR (Sue Pike) / SSPCA (J K Wilson) / Sussex Horse Rescue Trust (Pauline Grant) / Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre (Carrie Humble) / Veteran Horse Society * (Julianne Aston) / Veteran Horse Welfare (Karen Goodliffe) / Welsh Pony & Cob Society (Alan Pearce) / Wood Green Animal Shelters (Nigel Mason) / Worshipful Company of Farriers (C Clifford) .