Horse stolen from Guildford and found in Wales - please read

starsky

starsky

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 March 2004
Messages
838
Location
Surrey
Visit site
On Monday (2 Nov) night my friend’s horse was stolen from a field in the Guildford area. The people who took her sawed through a wooden post and rail fence to get out and this happened between 3pm and 6pm in the afternoon.

The police were informed and so were the microchip company who circulated her details to all the ferry ports etc.

As you can imagine the owner was completely distraught.

Late Tuesday (3 Nov) afternoon she received a phone call from the police to say her horse had been found in Hollyhead, Wales. She was tied to a railing at the ferry port and the ferry to Ireland had gone without her. So today she is driving to Wales to pick her up.
grin.gif
grin.gif


Several things have come to light in this story:

1. A week ago her horse had a small plait in its mane when she went to get her in from the field. She describes it as very small, almost like a tangle. She disregarded it as kids messing about (her horses are out in a field with others). However, this is how people mark horses to be stolen later. Ie. One person marks them, another then comes later and knows which one to take.

2. The ferry port at Hollyhead do not check horses passports or microchips. This horse was travelling without a passport.

3. The police believe the reason this horse was left behind was because she was microchipped. Although the UK is lax about passport and microchip checking, it is apparently more common for horses to be scanned on entering Ireland. The people who take them will scan them and dump them if they find a microchip. This horse also had a large obvious scar so this may have been a contributing factor.

The police told her that horses being dumped at a ferry terminal is not uncommon and they usually turn out to be stolen. They have had horses left in a lorry on the actually ferry!

This story has a happy ending for H and E, but it makes you wonder how many other stolen horses were on that ferry to Ireland.

The owner has asked me not to give any more details because of the police investigation that is on going, but has given her permission for me to relay this story, mainly to highlight:

1. If you find your horse with a small plait in its mane or tail please do not ignore it. I thought it was common knowledge that people knew about this, but several people I've spoken to since were not aware of it.
2. If your horse isn’t microchipped please consider doing it. The owner of this horse describes her as ‘nothing flashy, just a normal 14.2 bay mare’ so please don’t think it couldn’t happen to you.

Please do not ask me to provide more details regarding the horse or owner as I can’t, but please spare a happy thought today for H and E who should be having a (probably very emotional) reunion in Hollyhead later on today.
grin.gif
 
Glad there is a happy ending to this story
smile.gif


I think in a way, it must be worse than your horse dying, that uncertainty of what has happened to it and if it is being cared for
frown.gif
 
There was an item on Farming Today on Radio 4 the other week where the BHS were warning people about the plait signal. A lady was interviewed who found a plait in her horse's mane one day. She thought someone on the yard had done it so took it out. The next day the plait was back so she asked everyone if they'd done it, but no-one had. The BHS officer said that the horse is usually stolen to order and the plait is put there so that if the thieves come in the night they can just go round the horses feeling the mane and the one with the plait is the one they know they're stealing. Dreadful but I'm glad your story turned out well in the end. The BHS chap also suggested that freezemarking was a good addition to microchipping as it's visible and so does help to put off thieves.
 
Bl**dy hell, I'm not far from Guildford. Very lucky horse and owner. Mine are freezemarked and one is branded, so hopefully this is a deterrent.

Glad it ended well for your friend.
 
Great that the horse was found and it still continues to amaze me at how many people don't have microchips and freezemarks - wake up folks, protect them in all ways you can from these scum.

I agree, to have a horse die is final, to have one go missing would be my idea of hell, I can cope with death but not never knowing what happened to them.
 
Perhaps if the authorities at the port got off their backsides and checked a bit more carefully,these people would decide it wasnt worth the risk.
 
If the police are aware that this is the route most stolen horses are taken why do they allow horses to corss with out a pass port? Surley something should be put in play where if I hrose turns up with out a pass port then no crossing, or they could be really strict and if a horse turns up with out a pass port are you cannot prove the horse is yours within 24hours then the police are called to investigate. A little harsh perhaps but we all know they when travelling with your horse you have to carry your pass port, well I know with my pass port I do.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps if the authorities at the port got off their backsides and checked a bit more carefully,these people would decide it wasnt worth the risk.

[/ QUOTE ]

agree

What is the point in passports/microchipping if noone is going to check them anyway
confused.gif
 
What can you do if your horse has been plaited? scary the thought of that to be honest, cuz nothing you can do i suppose? i knew about that but i also heard the cut manes and tails as well? or that may be the gypsy ones glad it has ended okay though very lucky!
 
Glad to hear all ended ok and i agree - worse than having to have your horse PTS/finding it dead. The unknown is much worse.

Another example how passports are a total joke though - why on earth are they not checked routinely at ferry ports?? Seems madmess. Especially seeing as we were all warned how you MUST have your passport with your horse at ALL times because they WILL be checked!!!

Have my horse microchipped and think this should be checked too and matched with the chip on the passport. One without the other isn't alot of good is it. It's very scary that horse theft seems to be rife - steps need to be taken to make it more difficult and less lucrative a business.
 
Very pleased about this result but also very worried--look at the time scale from Surrey to Anglesey in 24hrs
Speed of moving information is so necessary and this appears to be down to microchip company moving the details--would this have been quick enough if it happened at weekend
 
Glad to hear pony and owner have been reunited!! Always nice to hear a happy ending!!

Awful that the passports are not checked! What a waste of time!

One thing this has prompted me to do though is get b microchipped. She has a farmkey but I think i will get her chipped too now!
 
So why did we all have to fork out for passports ? Its a total joke, money for nothing I reckon, mines freezmarked but if he had a rug on they wouldn't know that, its all very scary
 
[ QUOTE ]
So why did we all have to fork out for passports ?

[/ QUOTE ]

So defra know how many horses there are and where, so they can tax them. Anyone who thinks its for welfare/food chain reasons is sadly mistaken. This is just another example of the passport law farce.

So glad the horse will be reunited with its owner though.
 
Oh my god, I keep my horse just outside guildford. Found a plaite in her tail the other day and thought nothing of it as lots of kids up my yard and they all go in the fields. Gonna be worrying now
frown.gif
!!!!!
 
Oh god, I've been banging on about this issue for about 4 years now, and we're still no further on.

I've spoken to the ferry companies that sail to Ireland, they have no facilities, they say, for checking horses that are being transported from the UK to Ireland. It would take a complicated logistical operation to unload the horses safely, find a competant person to check them i.e. someone who actually knows how to scan a microchip, read a passport and tally it with the horse etc. have up to date information available on stolen horses and reload the horses safely. Well, yep, I agree with them, so why can't they bl**dy well create the right facilities and employ the staff? because this is a MASSIVE loophole in the system that needs to be addressed.

Honestly, the thieves must be laughing themselves stupid, they've got a clear run if they can get the horse to the ferry port. I've spoken to some horse transport companies and asked what really happens when they do the UK/Ireland route. The answer is nothing. The most they get asked to produce is the passports, which isn't often and they aren't always actually checked. Sometimes someone will count the passports and count the horses. That's all. We need to put pressure on DEFRA , the government and the ferry companies to close this loophole, in my opinion it should have been done years ago.
 
Glad she was found safe and hope she has a trouble free journey home.

Bloody glad I had my girl freezemarked & microchipped.....................Mind think if I found a plait in her mane I would be camped out in her field with a shotgun!
 
I'd be up for doing the job! :grin

It wouldn't take that much really - just someone with horse knowledge (to match up markings), a scanner and a small laptop/blackberry to check chip/passport numbers against a stolen horse register. It would have to be run similar to airport check in for humans I reckon - ie be there 2 hours before ferry departs!

Simples!

:
 
I'd be up for the job as well LadyT, it just needs a team of experienced and proficient horse handlers with an eye for 'dodgy'. We ought to approach Stenaline etc with the emphasis on a job creation scheme!!
 
The thing about it is, you dont need to check every truck , or every horse, you just need to check enough to frighten the theives. Anyway, what kind of port does not have the facilities to check the freight it handles. You would almost think they were in on it.
 
And another thing!!!!!! I have over many years driven freight through half the borders in europe.These places are crawling with cctv, yet in wales no one sees anything. Doesnt it make you wonder.
confused.gif
 
they have holding pens in hollyhead for horses to be shipped out to ireland .someone we know hade his horse stolen and was tipped off it was being kept in hollyhead at a holding pet and sure enought when he drove there it was with some other horses .its well known and the officials are aware of this.even the welsh horse warden lucy knows its there.the goverment make us pay for passports and chipping and possibly a new horse tax but give us nothing back they dont check the horses leaveing the uk or being slaughterd in the uk against the passport or chip .just they take our money they can afford to employ a warden at the ferry port on the money horse owners have to pay for chipping and passporting ps i bet if someone was sneaking a extra packet of golden virginia in the country theyd find it but not a horse no to easy to hide a horse
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top