(64)Directive 2009/156/EC requires the official veterinarian to record the identification number or identification document number of the slaughtered equidae, and to forward to the competent authority at the place of dispatch, at the latter's request, an attestation to the effect that the animal has been slaughtered. It should therefore be clarified that in such cases the identification documents must be destroyed at the place of slaughter to prevent the fraudulent use of identification documents from slaughtered equine animals.