Presented at the Australian Pony Stud Book AGM 2022

1. Horse welfare and
biosecurity touchpoints
Australian Pony Stud Book Society
(Vic branch) AGM 2022
Julie Fiedler
PhD Candidate
Faculty Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences
Harkaway Lodge Lachlan

2. I acknowledge and pay respect to First Nations peoples of
many countries and cultures, whose dreamings and
spiritual connection with animals and country are of more-
than-human meaningfulness, which may hold different
values to western cultures, and westernised knowledge of
sentience, agency, anthropomorphism and the human and
animal connection to each other and to country.
This presentation is prepared on the traditional lands of the Bunurong
and Boon Wurrung people, Werribee, Victoria. Australia.
Acknowledgement
iStock

3. I have worked the horse industry for over 35 years in a range of
roles, the most recent is Executive Officer for Horse SA (20 yrs)
which involved industry-government interface on a range of
topics including recreational trails, biosecurity, safety, welfare.
Present: Volunteer role as Interim Secretary, Animal Emergency
Incident Management (ANZ)
Undertaking a PhD relating to sports horse welfare which will
help to inform organisations policy, practices and the social
licence to operate (SLO)..
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-fiedler-07126918/
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

4. Horse Welfare touchpoints
 Animal welfare updates
 Animal welfare law reform
 Working on horse welfare solutions
Biosecurity touchpoints
 Emergency Animal Disease Response
 Traceability
 Discussion
Agenda
 Social licence to operate

5. •Anthony Van Dyck (horse) in the walking ring for the 2018 Breeders' Cup Turf
• CC BY-SA 4.0
•File:DSC 2798AnthonyVanDyck.jpg
•Created: 2 November 2018 by Jlvsclrk
Social licence is a non-legal, unwritten agreement where
the public provides tacit approval to carry out business
operations.
Underpinning the concept is the public’s perception of
credibility, legitimacy, and trust in the organisation and
the transparent approaches to business operations >>
animal welfare.
Social licence to operate
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

6. Horse welfare
touchpoints
iStock
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

7. Moving away from ‘inputs’ for the care of horses = welfare, and
where an act of cruelty had to occur before actions could be
taken.
Moving towards expectations of providing minimum standards of
care and to community and organisational concepts of animal
safeguarding. Greater recognition of a horse’s experiences +/-
interactions with their surroundings, people, other horses.
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Animal welfare updates
Community attitudes to animal welfare are rapidly changing….
Download
iStock
Five Freedoms towards Five Domains model(s)

8. RSPCA VIC MEDIA (5 Aug 2022) Mandatory animal welfare standards for horse racing
and CCTV in abattoirs and knackeries are two of the five big ticket items RSPCA Victoria
is advocating for in the lead up to the Victorian election.
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Animal welfare law reform

9. Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Working on horse welfare solutions
Pony Club
Australia
updated syllabus
to include
welfare and
learning theory
Australian
Stock Horse
Society
Horse
Welfare
Officers

10. Biosecurity touchpoints
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

11. Roles where horse industry people are involved:
•Representation on the National Management Group
(NMG) and the Consultative Committee on Emergency
Animal Diseases (CCEAD)
•Liaison – Livestock Industry, a representative of the peak
industry body responsible for liaising and consulting with the
affected jurisdiction via the Incident/Coordination Management
Team on response management and strategy
•Contributing industry-specific advice to assist the planning and
conduct of response operations as Specialist Advice –
Livestock Industry personnel in the control centre.
For any horse owner or livestock industry person. Free online
course re how an EAD response runs.
Emergency Animal Disease Response
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Adapted from Animal Health Australia website

12. Incident/Coordination
Management Team
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Emergency Animal Disease Response- resources

13. Endemic animal disease
Some diseases are endemic to Australia.
Agriculture Victoria has a list of notifiable diseases, check here.
Strangles can occur in Victoria. When horses mix at events its easy to spread. It
must be reported within 7 days. It may be up to the owner to manage
quarantine, (Racing may issue directions for persons).
Redwings Horse Sanctuary UK has some excellent resources.
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Dr Josie Holmes
Principal Veterinary Officer – Equine
Ag Vic General enquiries: 136186
Emergency Animal Disease Hotline Number:
1800 675 888
Email: cvo.victoria@agriculture.vic.gov.au

14. Traceability
Data exchange with a
central register
National Horse Traceability Working Group
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022
Identification of equine animals in accordance with EU Animal Health
Laws
Jane Evans ueln-australia@bigpond.com
General info on Horse ID internationally.
World Horses Identification, Registration and Data Exchange
Committee (WHIRDEC)
Example register from Senate report – An Australian
option not yet chosen/ designed.
+ DNA, Biometrics etc.

15.  Proactive approach towards safeguarding all horses (national herd) and other livestock species
 Biosecurity plans for events and private stables- sample plans on Farm Biosecurity site
 Find info on emergency diseases- exotic and notifiable diseases (e.g. Strangles) for Victoria.
 Access free Animal Health Australia resources and training, share info, join update email list/s.
 Maintain contact with organisation representatives at all levels of the response, the nomination
process, training etc. via Australian Horse Industry Council
 Records of horses/ID at your events/gatherings - and Property Identification Code (PIC) numbers
 Engage / educate on current issues such as Foot and Mouth, Japanese Encephalitis, African
Horse Sickness
 Engage with horse traceability discussions via the working group and other options that may arise
 Anything else?
Emergency Animal Disease Response- talking points
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

16. Anthony Van Dyck (IRE)
Breeders' Cup Turf @ Santa Anita Park.
Image: Jeanine Williams
… for the social licence to
operate- the most
important element is
arguably public trust-
…we must ensure that
what is said
‘could be done’,
is in fact,
‘done’.
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

17. #futurehorse
Project
To investigate horse industry participants expectations
regarding future horse welfare practices in the contexts of
racing, riding, sports and tourism. Outputs: A set of welfare
statements to inform horse activity organisation’s policy,
practice and their social licence to operate. Link

18. Douglas, J., Owers, R., & Campbell, M. L. (2022). Social Licence to Operate: What Can Equestrian
Sports Learn from Other Industries?. Animals, 12(15), 1987.
Heleski, C., Stowe, C. J., Fiedler, J., Peterson, M. L., Brady, C., Wickens, C., & MacLeod, J. N.
(2020). Thoroughbred Racehorse Welfare through the Lens of ‘Social License to Operate—With an
Emphasis on a US Perspective. Sustainability, 12(5), 1706.
Mellor, D. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Littlewood, K. E., McLean, A. N., McGreevy, P. D., Jones, B., &
Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 five domains model: Including human–animal interactions in
assessments of animal welfare. Animals, 10(10), 1870.
References
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022

19. Julie Fiedler
jmfiedler@student.unimelb.edu.au
Professor Josh Slater
jdslater@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Sarah Rosanowski
sarah.rosanowski@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Margaret Ayre
mayre@unimelb.edu.au
University of Melbourne
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science
250 Princes Rd, Werribee, Australia
Thank you
Julie Fiedler APSB (Vic Branch) AGM 2022