Luke spent the afternoon at HorseWorld on Friday and learnt about the repercussions that dangerous tethering practices can have. He met the horses who were mentally and physically scarred by tethering and spoke with the staff to learn more about the recuperation of these animals.
Following this visit, local MP Luke Hall has pledged his support to Bristol-based charity HorseWorld’s, #BreakTheChain anti-tethering campaign.
This campaign calls for a law to place restrictions on the tethering of horses in the UK. Current Equine welfare codes state that tethering is not a suitable method of long term management of horses, and yet there is no current law to protect horses from dangerous or prolonged tethering.
Therefore, Luke and HorseWorld are calling for a ban on tethering in unsafe places such as on roads or roundabouts, or for a period of time that exceeds twenty-four hours. HorseWorld strongly believe that “If your only recourse for keeping a horse is tethering, you should not be permitted to own that animal.”
In a statement rural man Luke said:
“As a local man and animal lover who grew up in the local area I want to do everything that I can to protect animals in our community. It was extremely interesting to meet with HorseWorld and listen to their policy ideas to protect these beautiful animals. I am really looking forward to supporting HorseWorld in their campaign.”
HorseWorld stated that:
“We can see from Luke’s parliamentary record that he is incredibly passionate about animal welfare. For this reason we are excited to having him working alongside us to protect horses from dangerous tethering procedures across the UK.”