The Control of Horses Act 2015
Julie Roberts and Jake Murray look at changes that will help local authorities and landowners to deal with fly-grazed horses.
It is estimated that more than 3,000 horses are deliberately placed on someone else’s land without consent (fly-grazed) across England. The Control of Horses Act 2015 (the Act) came into force on 26 May 2015. It amends the Animal Act 1971 to allow local authorities and landowners to promptly remove fly-grazed horses.
The Act allows local authorities (county as well as district councils) in England to detain horses which are in a public place in its area without lawful authority. “Public place” includes any common land, town or village green and any highway or highway verges.
In addition, the Act allows landowners to remove horses that are left on their land and take them to a place of safety.
Following detention of the horse/s the local authority or landowner must notify the local police within 24 hours of removal and if the owner of the horse can be identified they must also notify them. If no owner comes forward or can be identified within four working days of the horse being first detained a landowner is free to dispose of the horse.
Prior to the Act coming into force, horses could be disposed of by sale at market or at public auction after detention of 14 days. The Act now allows disposal after four working days of detention and extends the means of disposal to include private sale, gifting, rehoming or humane destruction.
Whilst the intention of the Act is to address the welfare of horses it is hoped it will also be of assistance to landowners to effectively manage their land and to local authorities to swiftly deal with horse and public welfare risks posed by fly-grazing.
Local authorities will need to consider how it will deal with fly-grazed horses on land in its area as well as land it owns in light of this new legislation and the benefits of adopting a policy setting out how it will use these enhanced powers.
Julie Roberts is Section Leader – Property Team and Jake Murray is a CILEX Apprentice at Essex Legal Services. Julie can be contacted on 03330 139689 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
