Ms Maddie Doyle:

With regard to trying to secure a prosecution in a cruelty case, the biggest obstacle is proving ownership and linking the animal to an owner. This is where traceability and the passport come in. What often happens if animals are registered is that the owners will say they sold the horse two years ago and do not own it anymore. More often than not, the animal is just not registered at all. No microchip is present, which means there is no passport. If an animal is on private land we can go looking for a landowner and maybe make an assumption, or start by saying if it is on this piece of land which is owned by this person it is potentially the same person who owns the horse. If an unregistered animal is found on public lands or a public road, there is no way to link it to an owner.