Know your rights and obligations when buying horses advises Consumer Direct Scotland
| Know your rights and obligations when buying horses advises Consumer Direct Scotland Consumer Direct, the government advice service, is advising potential Horse owners to bone up on their rights and obligations before purchasing a Horse or Pony. |  |
Since the introduction of the Animal Welfare Act in England and Wales last year, and the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act in 2006, pet owners are now legally obliged to care for their pet by providing a proper diet, suitable living conditions and veterinary care when necessary.
However, in addition to obligations, pet buyers also have statutory rights. Consumer Direct received more than 670 complaints from dissatisfied horse and pony buyers in the last 12 months, many of whom were unaware of their rights under the Sale of Goods Act.
Gordon Macdonald, Consumer Direct Scotland manager said:
‘It's extremely important that you do your homework before buying a horse or any pet to make sure that you will be able to provide the right level of care. Buying an animal is clearly not the same as simply buying a product on the high street, but you do have the same statutory consumer protections. If you are in any doubt, contact Consumer Direct for further advice.'
Many horse-related complaints received concerned the purchase of horses which were not as described. More horses are now changing hands on Internet sites - with some buyers ending up saddled with dodgy steeds that don't match up to their descriptions.
Buyers, particularly those looking for cheap horses and ponies, are beginning to turn to the Internet in their quest for a bargain. But the practice is triggering complaints from buyers who later discover the horse they bought is older than claimed, is in poor health or has a difficult temperament.
One horse lover, from Warmington, Northamptonshire, used the Internet to search for a mature, quiet horse suitable for her young children, aged seven and 10. She plumped for an eight-year-old Irish cob - but when it turned up it was lame and did not have a valid horse passport, as required by law, so she turned it away.
She was later offered a replacement horse, described as a quiet ride and aged four rising five - but when she tried to ride it she was bucked off. A vet later aged the horse at three and a half. It also had an incorrect passport.
The company involved, West View Farm Stables, based in County Durham, and a director were subsequently prosecuted and fined a total of £2,475.
Flintshire trading standards had previously prosecuted the same firm after another horse was sold as a seven year old when in fact it was only four. When it was ridden for the first time it threw the young rider. She suffered a broken arm. The company was fined £5,400.
In a prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Act taken by Bedfordshire Trading Standards the description a ‘quiet ride' was found to be ‘ false to a material degree' resulting in fines amounting to £3000 plus £1800 costs.
The Trading Standards Institutes lead officer on animal health and welfare, Jeremy Adams, said it was vital that buyers heeded a basic checklist before buying.
'Buying a horse or pony is a big investment. By all means buyers can look on internet sites for information, but once they have identified a potential purchase they should never hand over money, nor commit to a purchase.'
'Too many buyers decide not to use a vet, trusting on their own instinct or knowledge - but this can be a very costly mistake,' said Mr Adams.
The horse passport scheme, introduced in 2002, was designed to make it easier for buyers to identify a horse's origins, and is supported by a new National Equine Database (NED), which went live in 2006.
However, there are dozens of different issuing authorities around the UK and a range of passport designs, making it more difficult to spot a fake, added Mr Adams, who has called for a single issuing authority and for passports to be supported by microchip or branding.
Consumer Direct has the following advice and guidance:
- Always go and see the horse before agreeing to buy it and before paying a deposit. We would advise against buying purely on a verbal description from the seller over the telephone or from a written description and/or photograph in a printed or online advertisement.
- If possible observe the horse being caught in the field, led to the stable, groomed and tacked up
- If possible also observe the horse being ridden by the seller or a representative and then ride the animal yourself both in the field/school and out on the road. It is advisable that this is done alone and in the company of other horses.
- Be wary of anyone offering to bring the animal to you for inspection - this will mean you are unable to check out the current owner's facilities and home environment and will put extra pressure on you to agree to the sale
- Prior to purchase and paying for the horse, arrange for an examination by an independent veterinary surgeon experienced with horses. This should include a physical examination; any tests deemed necessary and inspection of the vaccination record.
- Ensure there is a valid horse passport for the animal. All horses are required, by law, under the Horse Passports Regulations 2004, to have a valid passport. It is an offence to sell a horse without a valid passport. The passport should accompany the horse to competition, sale or exhibition and be produced to an inspector on demand.
- Always buy from a reputable person. Make enquiries with previous owners about the animal's history, ask local horse clubs, pony clubs or breed societies about the reputation of the seller if they are not known to you.
- Ask the seller for a trial period so that you can try the horse out for an agreed period of time to check that it is suitable before buying. If the seller agrees to this, it is advisable to insure the horse as you may be responsible for any injuries to the animal whilst it is in your possession.
Advertisements for horses often include words and descriptions which are familiar to people in the horse trade or horse community but not to the general public. It may be helpful to get someone knowledgeable about horses to explain the terms and be aware that some statements may just be sales talk which are too general and vague when used to describe a horse to mean anything e.g. a horse can be "good natured" one day and temperamental the next.
Your rights and opportunities to obtain redress in the event of a problem will vary on whether you buy the horse from a dealer, at an auction or privately. For further information about your rights call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 and visit the web site at: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
Further Information
1. Information on the Animal Welfare Act is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/act/index.htm
2. Information about how the Animal Welfare Act affects Scotland is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/972/0040944.pdf
3. Further advice about purchasing a pet and pet care is available from a number of charities including the RSPCA (www.rspca.org.uk), the PET Care Trust (http://www.petcare.org.uk) and other specialist organisations.
4. Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service funded by government and managed by the Office of Fair Trading. It operates in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services to offer consumers clear, practical and impartial advice and information.
5. Consumer Direct has around 350 trained advisers in 11 contact centres across England, Wales and Scotland.
6. The information and advice helpline is available on a single national telephone number - 08454 04 05 06 from 0800 - 1830 Monday to Friday, and 0900 - 1300 Saturday, excluding bank holidays and public holidays.
7. A Welsh-speaking Consumer Direct service is available on 08454 04 05 05. Minicom users should call 08451 28 13 84.
8. Calls to the Consumer Direct 0845 numbers are charged at no more than four pence per minute from a BT landline. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Please check the rate with your phone service provider.
9. Northern Ireland has its own service called ConsumerLine (available on 08456 00 62 62) which is similar to Consumer Direct.
26 February 2008
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