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
Horse businesses may register for an annual fee of £28 (the
same as for farmers) with individual horse owners (or those with a
small number of animals) able to register for a one use fee, currently
set at £15 which will only need to be renewed when the Scheme
is used (i.e. a repeat annual fee is not necessary - see also Q
& A below). These fees cover administration costs and are
payable by direct debit. They can apply by calling the National Fallen
Stock helpline on 0845 054 8888. Alternatively they
can complete an application form obtainable from the National
Fallen Stock website or by calling the same number.
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 horse owners will be provided with
details of fallen stock collectors and premises operating in their
postcode area including a menu of prices for providing a variety of
collection and disposal services. Such services may include disposal
only, collection and 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 or at a specific time, out of hours
attendance, roadside attendance, incineration and return of ashes
etc. All operators will be approved under the Scheme, will have pre-fixed
their prices for such services for a pre-determined period, and will
have to comply with minimum standards of service and biosecurity.
On requiring the service, the owner will contact their preferred collector on the list that has been provided to them on registration and will need to give details of their membership number to the collector and agree the service to be provided. Payment for services will be made to NFSCo by monthly direct debit by the horse owner/business with NFSCo making payments to the collector(s).
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. I only have one horse. The likelihood of it dying in any one year is remote. Will I have to pay an annual fee?
- Q7. What happens if the animal dies away from the collection point ( e.g. at an event or show)?
- Q8. 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 joined the Scheme for farmed livestock and paid your subscription fee you will not have to pay an additional subscription fee again for any horse which you own.
Note that farmers may benefit from a government contribution for the disposal of farmed livestock but that this does not apply to horses as EU State Aid Guidelines clearly state that Government funding may only be provided towards the cost of collection and disposal of farmed livestock. You will however, be able to benefit from the payment arrangements that have been set up for disposal of farmed livestock and will continue to pay the National Fallen Stock Company for disposal rather than the collector for services provided in relation to horses. |
Q6. I only have one horse. The likelihood of it dying in any one year is remote. Will I have to pay an annual fee?
A. The issue has been raised whether the Scheme would appeal to individual horse owners when they will rarely need to use the Scheme. It is not possible to waive the fee which covers the administration running costs.
However, because such owners will impose a lower administrative burden on the Scheme they may pay a reduced fee and will not have to pay it annually. Instead they may opt to pay a single use £15 fee which lasts until the Scheme is used.
The cost is not high compared to overall annual costs of keeping a horse but if owners do not wish to pay they have other options:
- they will be able to join at the point of need, they do not have to pay in advance annually;
- they can make their own arrangements with their local hunt/knackerman etc with whom they may already have a relationship;
- they have an option to bury the animal if it is a pet under the derogation available under the regulations.
For those opting to pay the £28 fee, if they stable the animal with others, the charge is per collection point (with an additional £20 payable for each additional collection point), so they could club together with others who use the same stables or have an arrangement with the stable owner to register on their behalf. Thus equine businesses such as yards/studs/riding schools can join the Scheme as one business unit rather than each owner of a horse having to join. Equine veterinary surgeries can also join as a single business entity on the same basis.
Q7. What happens if the animal dies away from the collection point ( e.g. at an event or show)?
A. Scheme members may call the fallen stock helpline 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.
Q8. 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:
9 May 2006