Animal by-products: Fallen stock - Facts for horse owners
All horses when they die (unless they are kept as pets –
see Q&A below) must be disposed of without
delay in accordance with the EU Animal By-Products Regulation
2002. This means they must be delivered to a premises approved
under the regulation for proper collection and disposal (e.g.
hunt kennels, knacker yard, incinerator operator).
The National Fallen Stock Scheme is a voluntary scheme open to all farmers, horse owners, businesses and establishments and assists horse owners with meeting their obligations under the regulations. It is being run by the National Fallen Stock Company Ltd (NFSCo) on a not for profit basis.
How the scheme works for horse owners
Farmers and horse owners may register to become a member of the Scheme at any time. A £10 one off joining fee is payable for new members to cover administration costs.
The easiest way to join is over the phone by calling 0845 054 8888
Although horse owners can join at the time an animal dies they may wish to join in advance to save having to go through the procedure for registering for the Scheme at what may be a distressing time.
On registering for the Scheme the horse owner will be given, details of collectors and premises operating in their area including prices for a variety of collection and disposal services such as:
- disposal only
- putting down the animal by the collector
- collecting an animal after it has been put down by a vet
- an urgent request for attendance
- out of hours attendance
- roadside attendance
- incineration and return of ashes.
On requiring the service, the owner will contact their preferred collector and make the required arrangements.
Payment
Members will receive a statement from NFSCo summarising the services used. An NFSCo administration fee of £1.75 for members who receive statements by post or a reduced fee of £1.25 for those opting for email invoicing will be applied to the monthly statement - only if a member uses the service in the same month. Payment will then be collected 14 days later by direct debit.
Questions and answers
- Q1. Why is a fallen stock Scheme being set up?
- Q2. Why should horse owners join the Scheme?
- Q3. Do horse owners have to join the Scheme to comply with regulations?
- Q4. My horse is a pet what is the position for me?
- Q5. I am farmer who owns a horse(s). How does the Scheme apply to me?
- Q6. What happens if the animal dies away from the collection point that I registered with NFSCo ( e.g. at an event or show)?
- Q7. I have heard of people dumping horses now that they are not allowed to bury them following introduction of the new regulations?
Q1. Why is a fallen stock Scheme being set up?
A. Defra in partnership with industry, through the National Fallen Stock Company Ltd, is assisting farmers and horse owners with the requirement to comply with the Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR) which prevents on-farm or otherwise burial of fallen stock by providing a Scheme which offers a reliable, low cost means of disposal.
Q2. Why should horse owners join the Scheme?
A. When an animal dies you will have peace of mind in knowing that you can gain access to approved collectors operating in your area, at pre-advertised competitive prices with a guaranteed level of service and biosecurity.
Q3. Do horse owners have to join the Scheme to comply with regulations?
A. No. You can make your own private arrangements, although you may not be able to benefit from the service guarantees that exist under the Scheme.
Q4. My horse is a pet what is the position for me?
A. The Government has applied the derogation in Article 24(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 which allows the competent authority to decide that dead pet animals may be buried. In England, this has been done via regulation 28 of the ABPR 2005.
The definition of a pet animal given within the ABPR is: any animal belonging to species normally nourished and kept, but not consumed, by humans for purposes other than farming. Therefore, the ‘normal’ farm species, such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and poultry etc. would fall out-with this definition and would require disposal by an approved route other than burial.
Under a strict interpretation of the Regulation there is a case for arguing that no horse should be considered a pet. This is because in the EU as a whole the horse has a rather different status than it enjoys in the UK, i.e. it may be kept for human consumption. The same is not true for cattle, sheep and pigs which throughout the EU may on occasion nominally be kept as pets but do not belong to “a species normally nourished and kept but not consumed by humans…”.
However, the different status of the horse in the UK provides us with an opportunity to take a more flexible approach to interpreting the regulations where horses are kept as pets, and we have asked enforcement authorities (local authorities) to do this where possible.
Where local authorities decide to advise horse owners that a particular
animal may be considered a pet and buried then they will want to give
appropriate guidance. Location of the burial site, possibility of livestock
access and potential for leaching into watercourses should be taken into
account. Useful advice 
(110 KB) which was provided under the previous Animal By-Products Order
1999, when burial was permitted under defined circumstances, is available
on the Defra website.
Please note this applies only to England - If you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland please contact your respective national agricultural departments for advice.
Q5. I am farmer who owns a horse(s). How does the Scheme apply to me?
A. If you have not joined the Scheme already for disposal of farmed livestock then the Scheme applies in the same way as for any other horse owner. If you have already joined the Scheme for farmed livestock and paid your £10 joining fee you will only have to pay the monthly administration fee for each month in which you use the scheme, regardless of whether the animal being collected in that month is a horse and/or another species of fallen stock.
Q6. What happens if the animal dies away from the collection point that I registered with NFSCo ( e.g. at an event or show)?
Scheme members may call the fallen stock helpline (National Fallen Stock Company) which will endeavour to put members in touch with an approved Scheme collector in the area in which the horse dies.
However, no guarantee can be made that a service can be provided and there may be an additional charge imposed on top of the collector’s standard price.
Q7. I have heard of people dumping horses now that they are not allowed to bury them following introduction of the new regulations?
There have been reports of an increased dumping of dead horses since the ban on burial. We do not have information on the numbers involved, however we would question whether any such incidents are necessarily related to the ban.
Individuals that dump horses may have buried them in the past, but if they did then one would expect them to continue with that practice as they must know that dumping is also illegal.
With regard to enforcement on both burial and dumping, local authorities are responsible and we would urge anyone with information about breaches of the law to report it to their local trading standards office for follow up action.
With the Scheme horse owners now have a reliable means for disposal of dead horses at reasonable prices.
Page last modified: 11 March 2009