It is the responsibility of owners to ensure their horse has a passport, a requirement by law.
As a Passport Issuing Organisation in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Weatherbys is responsible for issuing passports, updating details and ensuring compliance between owners and the government authorities.
We work closely with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the United Kingdom and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in Ireland. As part of our passport work, we require ownership changes to be registered through Weatherbys, as selling a horse without a passport is illegal.
According to the law, changes of ownership must be lodged with Weatherbys within a 30 day period of acquiring a horse. This applies equally for registered Thoroughbreds and Non-Thoroughbreds, plus horses issued with a Weatherbys ID (Non-Pedigree) Passport and our work is essential in maintaining traceability and compliance.
You can read more about passports, responsibilities and regulations in the following sections:
The revolutionary Weatherbys ePassport brings animal identity documents into the digital world.
It is a legal requirement for all equines to have a passport, plus a functioning microchip, which must be recorded in the passport.
Weatherbys is a registered Passport Issuing Organisation with responsibility for providing passports for Thoroughbreds born in Great Britain.
It is a legal requirement for all Thoroughbreds in Ireland to have a passport. They must also have a functioning microchip, which must be recorded in the passport by the Passport Issuing Organisation (PIO).
Weatherbys administers the import and export of all Thoroughbreds in and out of Great Britain and Ireland.
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