Hi Vera,

Thank you for your comment.

The Animal Welfare Act 2002 and accompanying regulations provide the legal framework to ensure that all animals in WA have appropriate standards of care. The Animal Welfare Act intends to promote and protect the welfare, safety and health of animals, ensuring the proper and humane treatment of all animals in accordance with generally accepted standards, and reflect the community’s expectation that people who are in charge of animals will ensure that they are properly treated and cared for.

The draft Horse Standards and Guidelines further aim to promote a horse owner’s duty to adequately care for their animal(s) by setting out minimum standards to follow to ensure their health and welfare. It also provides recommended guidelines and additional information to further protect and promote the health and welfare of horses. The final document will provide a tool to help educate horse carers and, if the standards are regulated, these will support compliance.

DPIRD appreciates your input into the consultation process. Your feedback will help inform the development of the final Horse Standards and Guidelines. 

Please submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date (4pm Monday 19 December 2022).

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team.

Hi Nancy,

Thank you for your questions on the fencing provisions in the draft Standards and Guidelines.

The standards in the draft Horse Standards and Guidelines are minimum requirements to meet the basic welfare needs of horses and may form the basis of regulations. The guidelines aim to encourage a higher level of welfare and will not be regulated. Accordingly, the guidelines are not drafted as precisely as the standards.

Fencing and gates commonly cause injuries in horses, particularly when horses are overcrowded in confinement and facilities are inadequate. Wire fencing can cause injuries when horses are confined in small areas or kept in adjacent paddocks or areas. The intent of G4.9 is to minimise the risk of injury to horses confined in an area they are not used to. For instance, horses usually kept in large open areas and which are not used to fencing are likely to be at a greater risk of injury until they are used to closer confinement. 

Unless further defined in the final document, the terms used in the Horse Standards and Guidelines will take their ordinary meaning. For instance, visible could take the meaning ‘capable of being seen’ and will vary between animals and their experience or familiarity with the type of fencing.

We welcome your feedback on the draft Horse Standards and Guidelines. To ensure your views are considered, please complete the online survey and submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date.

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team.

Hi Mustang,

Thank you for your question on euthanasia and disposal of horses.

The draft Horse Standards and Guidelines provide that a horse must be destroyed using a method of humane destruction. Such a method causes rapid unconsciousness, followed by the horse’s death while it is unconscious. Methods of humane destruction include an intravenous injection of a barbiturate by a veterinarian and shooting by an experienced person with an appropriate firearm. 

There are facilities in Western Australia that will undertake this service, and subsequently dispose of the horse’s body. The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Livestock at Slaughtering Establishments should be adhered to for horses held at abattoirs and knackeries. Appropriate disposal of the horse’s body after euthanasia will depend on the method used, and should be confirmed with the relevant local council.

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team.

Hi Weanie0125,

Thank you for your question.

The Australian Horse Welfare and Well-being Toolkit is a resource designed to assist organisations in determining policies, procedures and planning for the welfare of horses, and is focused on the role of horse welfare officers at events. The draft Standards and Guidelines for the Health and Welfare of Horses in Western Australia (WA Horse Standards and Guidelines) provide for the welfare of horses more generally, and apply to all people responsible for horses kept in WA. Among other things, the WA Horse Standards and Guidelines cover housing conditions, health and veterinary care, management practices, breeding, exercise and education. 

A draft national horse standards and guidelines document was developed in 2008-09 but has not progressed. The national Animal Welfare Task Group has proposed development of such standards in their workplan, in addition to current work on national land transport standards. More information can be found on the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website: www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/animal/welfare/awtg

We welcome your feedback on the draft WA Horse Standards and Guidelines. To ensure your views are considered, please complete the online survey and submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date.

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team.

Hi HorsesFirst,

Thank you for your questions on the application of the draft Standards and Guidelines for the Health and Welfare of Horses in Western Australia (Horse Standards and Guidelines) to racehorses and the minimum age for horse training.

The draft Horse Standards and Guidelines apply to all horses kept in WA for any purpose, including racing. While there is no section that deals specifically with the welfare of racehorses, Part 2 of the Horse Standards and Guidelines applies to all owned horses in private and commercial settings. Racing and Wagering Western Australia, as the governing body responsible for regulating the racing sector, provides additional resources on the welfare of racehorses.

Generally, the proposed Horse Standards and Guidelines has been drafted to focus on the outcome (such as impact on health and welfare), rather than comprise prescriptive rules that do not allow flexibility between circumstances. Accordingly, the document does not specifically prescribe a minimum age limit for horse training, recognising that horse training and exercise can take many different forms, and that some of these are suitable for young horses. Rather, Standard 17.2 (page 32) provides that horses must not be subjected to exercise of an intensity and duration that exceeds the horse’s ability for its age, size, strength, and fitness. 

Similarly, in relation to training, Standard 18.1 (page 34) provides that training methods used on horses must be appropriate for the horse’s age, size and condition. Additional information is included on page 33 that stresses the importance of matching the type and amount of exercise to the horse’s age, reproductive status and physical and mental maturity. It also explicitly makes the point that strenuous exercise of young horses can risk musculoskeletal injuries, either immediately or later in life.

There are additional requirements intended to safeguard horses from the welfare, safety and health risks particularly associated with riding centres. Specific to age of horses, Standard 23.2 (page 43) provides that horses must not be used in riding centres if they do not have their central adult incisors in wear.

We welcome your feedback on the draft Horse Standards and Guidelines. To ensure your views are considered, please complete the online survey and submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date.

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team.

Hi Surya8686,

Thank you for your question on the application of the draft Standards and Guidelines for the Health and Welfare of Horses in Western Australia (Horse Standards and Guidelines) to racehorses.

The draft Horse Standards and Guidelines apply to all horses kept in WA for any purpose, including racing. While there is no section that deals specifically with the welfare of racehorses in Part 3, Part 2 of the Horse Standards and Guidelines applies to all owned horses in private and commercial settings. Racing and Wagering Western Australia, as the governing body responsible for regulating the racing sector, provides additional resources on the welfare of racehorses.

We welcome your feedback on the draft Horse Standards and Guidelines. To ensure your views are considered, please complete the online survey and submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date.

Kind regards,
the Animal Welfare Regulation team

Hi Jenny

Thank you for your question on the minimum age for horse training. 

Generally, the proposed Horse Standards and Guidelines has been drafted to focus on the outcome (such as impact on health and welfare), rather than comprise prescriptive rules that do not allow flexibility between circumstances. Accordingly, the document does not specifically prescribe a minimum age limit for horse training, recognising that horse training and exercise can take many different forms, and that some of these are suitable for young horses. Rather, Standard 17.2 (page 32) provides that horses must not be subjected to exercise of an intensity and duration that exceeds the horse’s ability for its age, size, strength, and fitness. 

Similarly, in relation to training, Standard 18.1 (page 34) provides that training methods used on horses must be appropriate for the horse’s age, size and condition. Additional information is included on page 33 that stresses the importance of matching the type and amount of exercise to the horse’s age, reproductive status and physical and mental maturity. It also explicitly makes the point that strenuous exercise of young horses can risk musculoskeletal injuries, either immediately or later in life.

There are also additional requirements intended to safeguard horses from the welfare, safety and health risks particularly associated with riding centres. Specific to age of horses, Standard 23.2 (page 43) provides that horses must not be used in riding centres if they do not have their central adult incisors in wear. 

We welcome your feedback on the minimum age for horse training, and any other aspects of the draft Horse Standards and Guidelines. To ensure your views are considered, please complete the online survey and submit any additional feedback to animal.welfare@dpird.wa.gov.au prior to the closing date.

Kind regards, The Animal Welfare Regulation team