This is controversial, but cruelty to horses and the slowness of authorities to act

[Owllady]

this story is in my local news and seems to be the next in a long line of incidents that i had read about recently, but why are the rspca and authorities not acting faster? why have the horses been allowed to get into such a dire condition before any action is taken?

My friend was involved in a local case where an organisation would just not intervene even though one horse had already died and another was becoming emaciated :( it just doesn't seem fair that they are allowed to suffer for so long. It says in that article the horse could be seen from the road, so why was it just left there?

(I don't know much about the ins and outs so please be kind, but those poor animals)

[wiganwagonwheelworks]

I think they are overwhelmed with cruelty cases...West Midlands Police told me when I reported loose horse from field clearly malnourished that they would try to locate owner but had many such reports. Ditto the RSPCA....I reported a horse to them a year ago and it eventually had to be destroyed. They are collapsing under weight of similar cases

[50BalesOfHay]

RSPCA are too busy wasting hundreds of thousands of pound of donations persuing prosecutions of hunts to have the resources/interest to deal with cases of cruelty and neglect

[Mirage]

I agree with 50BalesofHay.The RSPCA are a very dubious charity as far as I and a lot of other people are concerned.I've tried and failed to get them to do their job too many times to have any respect for them.Although I understand that if you tell them that there are TV Cameras present,they'll turn up.

World Horse Welfare have a very good reputation and I'd call them instead of the RSPCA.

[SaggyOldClothCatpuss]

RSPCA are shite. My friend has a small chutchyard, Id say less that 2 acres. kept my 3 small welsh a types there for a few months. When I left, someone dodgy who knew of me used my name to get her to let him on with 2 horses. Within a month there were 10 full sized horses, he had pissed off never to be seen again, the field was trashed, the horses had no food or water, and the owners mother had been hospitalised after one of them knocked her over when she tried to give them water.
The RSPCA told me to call back when they were emaciated, and the police said it was the landowners problem. The only way my friewnd could be rid of them was to fake an 'escape' and for them to end up on the road. And then, the police would round them up, put them on the nearest available plot of land and then they would become that landowners problem.
The horses proper owner took them away in the end, but it took weeks and in that time the horses had minimal food or water.
Its an absolute JOKE!

[shashep]

I have little respect for the local RSPCA after getting a very neglected dog from (their own) rescue kennels. He was stick thin, so dirty that we thought he was short haired, and had only been out of his run once for a walk in the 6 months he was there. But on the other hand, I know they've been called out to a guard dog because it was on a chain at night (had food, water shelter etc), and a lady I know was telling me how she'd reported a field with 6 ponies in itnear her house because they had no rugs on and only had grass to eat :-S.
I think (possibly more controversial) that a healthyhorse meat trade would help alleviate some of the problems seen with abandoned and unwanted horses. And going off slightly at a tangent here, but did anyone see the picture of a rather ugly (chestnut maybe?) that was doing the rounds on facebook a week or two ago? Someone had sold an injured horse on and then got cross that the new owner sold it on again - somehow expecting to keep control of a horse that she no longer owned?

[dopeysheep]

I saw that FB post. It does annoy me when I see horses for sale 'to a forever home only' If you want it to have a forever home keep it yourself. Once you sell a horse you have abdicated responsibility for it sadly.
I don't think a horse meat trade would help with neglect/cruelty, I think people would just breed more animals and keep them in shoddy conditions because they are just a commodity. Unfortunately.

[Eve]

RSPCA know nothing about horses.

We have a fatty that we need to keep on very restricted gazing as she can be susceptible to laminitis.

Say that to anyone who has a small clue about horses , they know what you are talking about.

RSPCA inspector who turned up hadn't a clue, had never heard of it and wanted pony moved to better grazing. She was sent away with a suggestion to go educate herself before taking to me again and with the phone number for my vet.

She never appeared back,

[horseylady]

Stupid isn't it?!

I thought fed and watered counted as care actually! Horses don't need lush grass, they need variety no dairy herd grazing!!

[Callisto]

The RSPCA are awful and have completely moved away from their original remit, namely preventing cruelty to animals. The police are bloody useless too. If you're worried about horses try a local charity (there are several dotted around the country) the ILPH, World Horse Welfare or the Blue Cross.

[frostyfingers]

I agree re RSPCA although it does seem to vary depending on where you are. One great story from ages ago though which will make you laugh (I hope). A squirrel had climbed up into our car wheel arches and taken residence in the shock absorbers - nothing on earth could persuade it to move, even starting the engine and moving the car. We called the RSPCA in a last ditch attempt to get it out - a very petite lady appeared, put a large protective glove on and asked "how do you want it, dead or alive?" She admitted she hated them as they carried so many diseases and was fairly ambivalent about getting it out alive.

Horsewise I think most of them don't have clue - I've been spoken to about my fat pony strip grazing, despite the fact he had water, shade and a companion. "It's cruel not to let him graze naturally" FGS - I told her it would kill him if I did and then what would she do?

[Mirage]

A friend opposite me was loaning a very elderly pony and someone reported her to the RSPCA for not feeding it enough.Friend showed the official the food,the drugs the vet had prescribed for a liver problem which they were treating the pony for.The officer then argued with friend that the vet was not one that the RSPCA recommended and that she should change to one they approved of.Bizarrely,the vets concerned are specialist equine vets and are among the best in the country,but for some reason,the RSPCA didn't think they were good enough.

[shashep]

I've had the 'not enough to eat' comments from people staying on the caravan field next to the horses. I merely ask them to point to the horse that they think looks thin and underfed (when they're both fat as pigs) and wait for the penny to drop.

[Owllady]

Thank you for answering my questions and explaining. God it's just awful isnt it? and I really will bear in mind to report to a local organisation. We have two at roadside very near atm and I do keep an eye :(

[SaggyOldClothCatpuss]

What pisses me off is that the RSPCA don't give a shite about the real cruelty cases but piss about with stupid complaints. We've had them out several times. DFriend has a 10hh Shetland x stallion. Had him for years. She's little. Tiny and doesn't weigh much, so she rides him. He can hack for hours and still come home on 2 legs. She's been reported for riding him when he is too small. RSPCA come out, look at her, look at him, she explains he is
a/ a Shetland,
b/ a stallion
c/ he carries her with ease,
d/ if he didn't she wouldn't ride him.
The RSPCA person leaves happy, having wasted probably the best part of an hour. We wouldn't mind but this happens over and over. You think they'd make a note and just tell people to butt out.
They came out last winter, because someone told them all out horses were out in the snow with no rugs and no food and they were starving and eating snow.
It was explained that they had spent 2 days in with hay and hard feed, and they had been put out in the first sunshine for days to get the sun on their backs for an hour or two between meals and they were eating the snow because they wanted to!
When I reported 10 horses on under an acre with no food or water they didn't even go to look.

[SaggyOldClothCatpuss]

Sgashep we keep ours on the same plot as a camp site. DFriend has to move her stallion every weekend because the regulars turn up and insist on feeding him potato peelings and their left over breakfast cereal and milk. Even though she has told them to stop. and she isn't polite about it either!

[muffinino82]

And going off slightly at a tangent here, but did anyone see the picture of a rather ugly (chestnut maybe?) that was doing the rounds on facebook a week or two ago? Someone had sold an injured horse on and then got cross that the new owner sold it on again - somehow expecting to keep control of a horse that she no longer owned?

Corkie? The horse used to be on my yard...

I'm still not sure exactly what happened with the original sale - I was under the impression he'd been given to a charity and she'd paid them to take him. Now there's a different story emerging that he was sold. I think that he was sold to person A who sold him to person B who sold him to person C. Person B then apparently rang the original owner saying that she'd found her number on the headcoller the horse came with and was ringing to say he'd been sold to someone in the Camarthen area, but I don't know why person B would do that
As far as I know he still hasn't been found...probably because he's ended up at Potters or Turners, is my guess. Sad thing is, he's an ex racer who came to the original owner in bad condition -he was very thin and his rain scald was so bad he has scars on his back When he went he was in his late teens, I think around 19. I had a feeling this would happen and did suggest the local hunt could dispose of him. Unfortunatly PTS is the best thing for some horses.