Written question asked by James Gray (Conservative) on Tuesday, 2 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 9 November 2004. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 2004 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether carcases of horses and donkeys may be buried on the owner's land under the Animal Byproducts Regulations.

Answer: Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether carcases of horses and donkeys may be buried on the owner's land under the Animal By-products Regulations. [196270] Mr. Bradshaw: The regulation allows member states to apply for various derogations regarding the disposal of animal by-products, and, among others, we have applied the derogation to permit the burial of dead pet animals. However, this does not automatically mean that all horses and donkeys may be buried. The definition of a pet animal given within the regulation is: any animal belonging to species normally nourished and kept, but not consumed, by humans for purposes other than farming. The situation with regard to equines is complicated. Although it can be argued that humans within the UK do not consume members of the equine family, the UK does export horses/ponies which may be used for human consumption. Under a strict interpretation the EU regulation would, therefore, ban the burial of pet equines but we would expect local authorities, who enforce the legislation, to take a sensible approach to the burial of horses that are clearly pets.

Secondary information