Keeping horses

Horses, mules and donkeys can carry cattle ticks. There are restrictions on how and when they can be moved.

If you want to move horses, mules and donkeys within the Northern Territory (NT) you must do all of the following:

• ensure you have a property identification code (PIC)
• get biosecurity clearance if your animal is in the cattle tick-infected zone - see below
• follow Australian animal welfare standards and guidelines - read about livestock welfare and land transport standards.

Treatment for ticks before moving a horse

You must get a livestock biosecurity officer to inspect and treat your horse for cattle tick before you can move it from the tick-infected zone into the control or tick-free zones.

Contact a livestock biosecurity officer in your region to arrange a time for inspection and treatment.

You must give at least three days notice and you must then move the horse no more than two days after the treatment.

Livestock biosecurity officers

Darwin 08 8999 2034

Katherine 08 8973 9767 or 08 8973 9765

Tennant Creek  08 8962 4458 or 08 8962 4492

Alice Springs  08 8951 8125

You must pay a fee for inspection and treatment outside business hours. Refer to the list of biosecurity services fees.

Read the agnote cattle ticks PDF (258.5 KB).

Read the livestock movement conditions relating to cattle tick fact sheet.

Livestock movement conditions relating to cattle tick PDF (370.1 KB)
Livestock movement conditions relating to cattle tick DOCX (292.8 KB)

Bringing horses to Australia

You can only import horses to Australia from countries that have been approved by the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, and they must meet all of the department's import conditions.

For information about how to import live horses to Australia go to the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources website.