Teachers who use animals must keep clear and accurate records of:
- The number of horses owned or kept at the school
- Identification of individual animals (name, brands, microchip number and identifiable features)
- The dates and sources of acquisition of each animal
- Disposal details and dates for each animal
- For student owned horses, the dates of arrival at the school PIC and date of departure from the school PIC
- Diet details for horses kept in intensive conditions with no access to grazing
- Complete breeding records
- The dates and types of husbandry practices carried out
- The name, dosage, batch number, expiry date, withholding period and dates of any chemicals administered
- Any accident, illness or injury involving horses held at the schools and the veterinary treatment provided (if required)
- Any significant occurrences that adversely affect the welfare of horses held at the school, such as vandalism, dog attack, outbreak of disease etc.
The type and format of the records maintained will vary from school to school and be dependent on the number of animals kept, number of staff involved in maintaining the records and the layout and location of the school farm.
The minimum requirement is a daily diary that is accessible to all staff that are involved in the care and use of the animals.
Where there are several staff members involved in the care of animals it is essential that there is a mechanism for each staff member to document notes about the general health status of school animals and that these notes are available to all other staff members who may be involved in animal care.
Where horses are student owned, the students should be encouraged to participate in the record keeping for their horse(s). Supervision of this record keeping must be carried out by staff and it is the responsibility of the School Animal Welfare Liaison Officer to ensure that these records are maintained.