National Horse Database Roundtable - Industry Advisory Committee meeting - November 29.

As you would be aware there has been a great deal of discussion about a National Horse Traceability Database. The AHIC has been an active participant in these discussions, including at the Senate Inquiry.   

The upcoming Industry Advisory Committee meeting is a chance for us as an industry to have a round table discussion. 

We will be hearing from a number of organisations about what data they already collect from their members and how they use it. We are interested to identify common data points that already exist in one form or another.  

For organisations planning to come to the meeting and for those who are not able to come, can you let us know the following information please? 

What would best describe your current database, system or organisation best? 

·     A record of *horses? 

·     A record of owners? 

·     A platform for running competitions or organising entries to competitions? 

·     Or all of the previous?

(*Note when reading horse/horses in the following questions, this also relates to ponies, donkeys and mules.) 

If a record of horses,does it require a microchip as means of identifying? Does it require a brand? Does it require both? Does it require no more than a name? For identification do you use a drawn representation of hair whorls, markings and any scars? For the horses do you collect DNA? Do you use/accept any other forms of horse identification? Do you keep a record of parentage/pedigree of all horses in your registry system? Do you keep a record of where the horses are kept? For the address of where the horses are kept do you need a PIC or simply the address? 

If a record of horse owners, what information do you require? Address of where the owner lives? Do you record where the horses are kept if at a different location? 

If your platform is used to assist in running competitions, does your organisation or system require the owner to provide details of where the horse originated from and where it will go to after the event has been held (biosecurity tracing documentation)? In the entry forms are microchip numbers required for every competing horse? In the entry forms do you simply require a horses name? Must the horse owner use the same name for their horse across all registries and competition platforms? 

Please come to the IAC with this information prepared and ideally if you could email it prior to  secretary@horsecouncil.org.auand for those organisations unable to attend, it would be very helpful if you are able to send through that information to us prior to the meeting on the 29th November.