The laws provide that in certain circumstances, landholders are entitled to sell a horse to recover costs incurred when a horse owner defaults in the payment of agistment fees. This action can only be taken when the landholder follows specified procedures for notifying an owner and arranging the sale.
Importantly, the laws do not apply where there is an existing written agistment agreement that contains an appropriate payment default clause.
Information about the operation of the new laws (Part 3A of the
Impounding of Livestock Act 1994) is available from the
Victorian Department of Primary Industries Government's Bureau of Animal Welfare on 136 186.