Welsh Deputy Minister for Agriculture Alun Davies has branded Defra’s decision to stop funding the National Equine Database (NED) as “a disaster”.
NED — the database of British-registered horses’ passports — closed in September after government funding was withdrawn.
Wales has a serious problem of horses being dumped on public and private land.
Mr Davies said Defra’s decision would reduce the enforcement authorities’ ability to check and trace owners of horses.
He has written to the English Government, urging them to rethink.
“It is a very poor decision that has made our lives exceedingly difficult,” he told H&H.