Another dead horse.

[Littlesparrow]

While I was dog walking with a neighbor this morning, he told me about a dead horse he found in a field last Saturday.This is the same field my son found a dead horse in last year. He said the RSPCA were not interested as the horse was dead and DEFRA don't work at the weekends,so he tried the council and they called the police.
I'm so frustrated and upset, we asked the RSPCA last time what had killed the horse but they ignored us, the field is full of Ragwort and has a poor water supply, it feels like could keep on happening and nothing will get done about it.

[werdnal]

I have never had much help with the RSPCA. I don't think DEFRA would be interested as its not really their field.

You might get more help from these:

World Horse Welfare: Contact Us

Although they are based in Norfolk, they have nationwide coverage and local officers in each area. Give them a call or email to report your concerns.

[Littlesparrow]

Thank you Werdnal I'll get my facts photos and dates together and see if they are interested.

[Kayleigh]

I would phone the RSPCA everyday until I got an answer they are obliged to do something about fields with ragwort where there are grazing animals.
I have known them to take horses away to rescue centres were the owners of the field have not taken any notice of the RSPCAs request to get rid of the ragwort and make the field safe for grazing animals.
As horses have died in the past you should mention this when you next contact them..how many more horses will die through neglect as there is probably no grass in the field or the hoses would avoid it.
What is the condition of the rest of the horses in field..
If there is no fresh water tell the RSPCA the owners are neglecting their animals.

[Littlesparrow]

The RSPCA doesn't do this in Cheshire Kayleigh in fact I'm not sure what they do come out to any more. There could have been another dead foal, before my holiday I was keeping an eye on a small foal and it disappeared, I walked all around the edge of the fields in case it was in trouble but couldn't find it.

Tomorrow I will take a close look at the remaining horses, but feel very helpless even if one does look ill.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Littlesparrow

The RSPCA doesn't do this in Cheshire Kayleigh in fact I'm not sure what they do come out to any more. There could have been another dead foal, before my holiday I was keeping an eye on a small foal and it disappeared, I walked all around the edge of the fields in case it was in trouble but couldn't find it.

Tomorrow I will take a close look at the remaining horses, but feel very helpless even if one does look ill.

Do you know who owns them..its a shame they are being left like this.

[werdnal]

I would ring the horse protection people I mentioned now, they should atleast have a 24/7 answering machine, and I know their inspectors work on a call out basis if they consider it urgent. They used to be the International League for Protection of Horses, ILPH, and as they specialise in the one animal, you are much more likely to get them interested. It used to be the case that the welfare societies couldn't help until there was proven neglect or cruelty, but the Animal Welfare act changed recently, and they can now intervene if they suspect an animal will suffer if the poor treatment/neglect continues.

Do you happen to know who the horses/land belong to? A lot of people who own horses have struggled with the cost of their care due to the economic situation. Whilst this is no excuse for treating them badly, some may not even know where to turn for help. If you get someone involved, they may be only too pleased to sign them over for a better life. If they don't and the welfare rep thinks the horses need to be seized, they call a vet to assess them, and if necessary, get the police involved and take them away.

I know its a difficult thing to do, but you ask them to keep the informant details annonymous if you feel the owners may try to get back at you.

Whilst ragwort is a killer, it has a cummulative effect, causing liver damage, and takes a long time to actually become fatal. I would suspect there is something else at work here if horses are dying so frequently. They probably need worming, have no tetanus or other vaccinations, and are lacking food and water, which will weaken them and make them susceptable to other things. Also you mention a foal - an undernourished mare will put her foal first, and literally use all her reserves to make milk, sacrificing herself in the process. It takes a lot to kill a horse, and these are obviously suffering with fatal results!

[Littlesparrow]

The land the horses are on consists of two large fields and a wood with two deep gullies in them, the land is in the process of being sold for development and has those red construction pegs in the ground at various points. At one time Travelers were living there and left concrete, rubbish and old guttering behind. This has now been cleared, but has the odd bit of rubbish and plastic.

The fields are fantastic for wild life,full of butterflies,birds and wildflowers, not so good for horses who have to contend with ragwort, rabbit holes, loose barber wire, and deep gullies.

These horses belong to Travelers, and although I can't be sure they might not have permission to keep them there. I would say that a lot of Travelers look after their horses very well and some of the stallions can be worth thousands of pounds, so I'm not generalizing here.

I did check the horses tonight and they all look well, one of the mares has a new foal,and they do have water in a plastic barrel. Both the horses that died were young approx under two years. What would kill horses that age, Ragwort,worms ,eating plastic rubbish? any ideas?

[werdnal]

Originally Posted by Littlesparrow

I did check the horses tonight and they all look well, one of the mares has a new foal,and they do have water in a plastic barrel. Both the horses that died were young approx under two years. What would kill horses that age, Ragwort,worms ,eating plastic rubbish? any ideas?

Any of the above could kill them. Roddodenrdron, yew, privet, foxgloves, laburnum, even bracken in large quantities are poisonous - if grass is sparce they will eat anything. There is also a disease called grass sickness, which affects younger horses, due to toxins in certain areas of grass. Lack of water is also a danger, as horses need to drink 10-20 gallons a day, depending on their size and the temperature.

They can also get colic through eating the wrong things. This can also be fatal, and is a horribly painful death. A heavy worm burden in itself can cause colic.

Only a post mortem would tell for sure what killed them, and if the bodies are gone then that wouldn't be an option now.

[Hedgehoggy]

I fully agree with Werdnal to contact World Horse Welfare: Contact Us, or Horse Trust UK (Feel Free To Send Us Any Comments) in the first instance for advice/guidance. Any attentive/competent horse owner would be fully aware if their animal was poorly, young horses rarely just ‘drop dead’ without any prior symptoms.

It’s sad that the RSPCA aren’t interested in investigating. Going to ramble here a bit.... four years ago when my daughter used to go weekend clubbing in Leeds City Centre and stay over at a friend’s house who lived there, she rang me at 1am to say there was a horse tethered outside a tall block of flats on the communal green, bordering a very busy road and there was a gang of drunken lads surrounding the horse and taunting it, which my daughter and her (all female) friends intercepted and drove the drunken lads off (I went mad at her for doing this!! ). She went on to say the horse had no food or water and was also extremely vulnerable to further drunken abuse and refused to leave the horse where it was in that state. I took her location details and rang the RSPCA. I have to say, the RSPCA were excellent in this case. They arrived at the scene within the hour, agreed the horse could not be kept there and called the police to help locate the owner. Some door-to-door knocking within the block of flats eventually located the owner who said he was only staying there for the one night and that he’d been going down to feed and water his horse every few hours because yobs had previously vandalised the horse’s bucket of food and water he’d left out for it earlier. He was made to tether the horse around the back of the flats out of view from the busy road and was given 24 hours to remove the horse.

The RSPCA kindly rang me back with the outcome and informed me that a new horse welfare legistlation had recently been introduced and asked if I would like a copy of the new legislation. I never received my promised copy, but the following weekend, my daughter checked all around the grounds of the block of flats and the horse was no longer there.

My point of that story being that our RSPCA was concerned enough to come out and investigate (although it was 4 years ago, no idea if they would do this today). I'm astounded your local RSPCA aren't remotely interested, particulary given this 'new' horse welfare legislation (if it exists!), but you have nothing to lose by contacting the above organisations, even if just for peace of mind.