THE Northern Irish Horse Board (NIHB) have told Irish Horse World they would never knowingly issue a passport to an animal already registered, following an RTÉ Investigates programme aired on Wednesday night, which highlighted alleged criminality and fraud in the industry.

Cases of horses being issued with a second identity document from the NIHB were highlighted in the programme. In one case, a horse called Finnisk Sally turned up in Sweden with a new passport, new name and described as four years younger. A spokesperson for the NIHB said they are taking the matter “extremely seriously”.

“The NIHB would never issue a passport to an animal already registered and the microchip number provided on the application is checked on a central database to ensure that the animal is not already registered. An application for registration can only record one microchip number for subject the animal as the law requires.

“Unfortunately, if an animal has been given a second microchip and this number is put on the application, it is impossible for NIHB or indeed any passport issuers to know that this animal was previously registered under a different microchip number,” the statement read.

No passport can be issued without a veterinary practitioner completing an official marking chart and inserting a microchip, before signing their name to the application.

The NIHB said they take the applications, signed by a vet, at face value. “Applications received are accompanied by a veterinary certificate following inspection of an animal by the vet and NIHB rely on this. We, like all passport issuers, are not in a position to appoint independent vets to check applications with a further inspection of the animal.

“In light of the issues raised in the programme, we have commenced a robust review to see if are any further steps or checks can be taken to identify any potential wrongdoing or inaccuracies in applications made to NIHB. We want to also reach out to other agencies, as alone it will be difficult to achieve this.”

Irish Horse World contacted the Veterinary Council of Ireland for a comment. In reply, a statement said: “The VCI make no comment on the RTÉ Investigates programme other than to say that any breach of animal health and welfare is wholly unacceptable. All veterinary practitioners are subject to a binding Code of Professional Conduct, which supports, mandates and ensures high standards in the practise of veterinary medicine. Any departure from these standards may result in disciplinary action.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland said they are investigating all information provided.

Illegal activity

Appearing on RTÉ’s Prime Time on Thursday night, Horse Sport Ireland’s breeding director, Dr Sonja Egan, said “the core of the problem here is that there was illegal activity going on, which the legislation has to step in and ensure that this is regulated and that it’s investigated with the full power of the law. We have legislation that is in place and it needs to be enforced.”

Dr Egan advocated that every horse should have a DNA test, saying: “If we have a centralised database with DNA, whenever there’s any question over a horse, that horse can be tested back to the single source of truth. We’re currently investing in an e-passport system, and we are looking at integrating imagery of horses over time. We’re 100% behind making sure that there is appropriate regulation followed within the industry. We have to work together and not be operating in silos.”

Passport issuing bodies

There are currently seven passport issuing organisations (PIOs) approved by the Department of Agriculture in the Republic of Ireland to issue passports for registered equines. Weatherby’s Ireland is the thoroughbred studbook in Ireland.

The others are Horse Sport Ireland, Leisure Horse Ireland, Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society, Kerry Bog Pony Society, Warmblood Studbook of Ireland and the Irish Harness Racing Association.

In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Horse Board (NIHB) are authorised by DAERA to issue identification documents only, without managing a studbook. The NIHB took over the administration of passports from Oakdale in 2018 and NIHB is an affiliate of Horse Sport Ireland.