The cornerstone of equine welfare work in the UK are the laws that allow for the prosecution and punishment of individuals who do not uphold agreed minimum welfare standards for all animals. In many countries there are no such laws, or laws that are rarely enforced. But in Britain, thousands of animals benefit every year from the extensive and active network of welfare professionals who work tirelessly to investigate situations of concern, advise and educate owners and take action against offenders if needed.

In April 2007, a new law was introduced that raised minimum standards of care required by all owners and carers of animals. The legislation, named the Animal Welfare Act, replaced previous laws, including the Protection of Animals Act which had been in place since 1911. As well as improving standards, the law also provided greater powers to authorities to help enforcement of these standards, and for harsher punishments to be given to people who by falling short of their duty of care, are found guilty of cruelty or neglect.

It takes considerable time and effort to write and introduce new legislation. The Animal Welfare Act took several years to write and rewrite. Living in a democracy means that members of the public as well as relevant businesses, charities and other organisations were all given the opportunity to express opinions about how they would like to see the new law develop and as much of this information as possible was taken into account.

When a satisfactory draft of the new legislation was completed, called the Animal Welfare Bill, it was given to Members of Parliament in the House of Commons to be read and discussed. MP’s try to reflect the wishes of the people they represent in their local area when they comment on proposed changes to legislation. Once the House of Commons had agreed that they supported the introduction of the new law, the Animal Welfare Bill was passed to the House of Lords to go through the same process of deliberation. Following approval from the House of Lords, the Bill was required to be passed back to the House of Commons for a final reading and vote.

All changes to statutory legislation have to be discussed
and approved by MP's in the House of Commons.

The last leg of the Bill’s journey was to be given royal assent from the Queen. This was granted in November 2006 and the Bill was officially recognised, becoming the Animal Welfare Act (2006). A period of time is given before the new Act becomes active in law, to allow everyone affected by the new law to be trained and put all the necessary revisions to their working practices in place. After everyone's hard work, the Animal Welfare Act finally replaced the previous legislation on April 6th 2007.

• Welfare leaflets