Is this a cruelty case?????

shell1978

shell1978

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Hi guys, need your advice.........

There is a horse in the village where I keep my horse, that has still got a rug on, the poor thing looks so uncomfortable in this heat. It has had the same rug on since March ish.
I have never seen anyone tend to it, but someone must go, as its got water and its grazing is being rotated around the field. Do you think I should call RSPCA or similar? or leave a note on the field gate to the owner?
 
I would take the rug off and hope no one saw me!!! But no doubt that is completely the wrong thing to do!!

Perhaps leave a note for the owner, you will see when its gone then and know how often she comes to see it. Poor horse
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Maybe contact your local BHS welfare officer, who will give advice and through their local network of contacts might be able to find out who owns it. there might be a reason for the rug - although I'm struggling to think of a good one
 
Yeah I was so tempted to take its rug off!!!!!! But resisted!

Thing I will do as you all say and leave a note first, then take it further if need too!
 
I would be sneaky and take it off when no one is around and then maybe leave a note for owner. When was the last time the owners went to see the horse? Because if they dont go down often then it may still be on from the bad weather we have been hot. Is really too hot now for any rug. So unless its a fly rug i would go and take it off if i was you...just make sure no one sees you!
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Unless the horse is being starved or neglected I don't think the RSPCA would be interested. Do you mean it is wearing a heavy turnout rug, have you looked closely to see what sort of rug it is ?

Many horses wear rugs all year round, the rugs do different jobs. I'd love for my horse to go out naked, but from Spring to late Autumn, she needs a Boett (for sweet itch) which covers everything. After that it is rugs to keep her warm and dry !
 
Middle weight?
Awh. Poor thing. I thought there may be a reason for the rug, A medical reason or something. But a middle weight? It must be boiling!
I'd leave a polite note and see if they take notice?
 
There is no need to be arsey. You didn't state in your initial email that the horse is wearing a specific rug, you just said it was wearing a rug. There are a lot of people posting here that ask some very basic questions !

A girl used to have a horse out with mine, it had a ratty old turnout on, all year. WHY ? she couldn't catch it, to take the rug off !
 
Leave a polite note saying you keep a horse in the area and had noticed the horse in the field was getting sweated up under the NZ rugs. That's all you can really do, there may be a reason it wear the rug or they may just be really over protective owners that don't want it to get remotely wet or cold
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Cheers sianilovesrobbie!! Thats promising as I didnt think they would be interested as it has grass & water. I will leave a note today for owners, if rug still on 2moro I will call them.
* Will keep you all posted on what happens!!!* x
 
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by the way i work for the rspca and you can report it to them and they take it very seriously. id give them a call and let them no as it is not fair. good luck siani

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Shame you don't work for the RSPCA round here then - they are totally useless!!
 
I would absolutely NOT go and take that rug off. I know it seems harsh but it's trespassing on your part and puts you in the wrong. If you are worried, you should report it. The owners may have a reason for leaving the rug on, like a very elderly pony at my yard has to wear a rug, even in summer, or else the weight drops off him. If not, and they are just naiive, then they can sort it out. But seeing as they caree enough to rotate their horses grazing I would doubt that this is the case.
 
Do the honourable thing, a polite notice on the gate expressing your concerns as you have noticed that the horse is very warm in this heat (perhaps tempt the horse over to the gate and feel his neck, you will be able to see if its warm and also feel the condition of him to satisfy your concerns) and give the RSPA a tinkle who will no doubt check on the animal a few times to see any change, plus they can go and check the horse properly.

Going in and taking its rug off I think personally is not the way to handle a situation like this and it going to far (although I do appreciate your concerns), your trespassing and are not fully aware of the situation (the horse could be elderly, have some kind of illness in where he/she maybe underweight so they may of wanted to leave the rug on to stop everyone from over reacting or jumping to the wrong conclusions, the owners could of gone on holiday and perhaps some non horsey person or family member is taking care of it for a period of time in which case they would not know to remove/change rugs or be first time horse owners....who knows... they could be lots of reasons)

Not only that but if they are rough uns/tinkers and see you going in and then realise you have reported them, you don't want to make enemies with them lol!

I not making excuses for poor horse care by no means but your best of leaving it to the people who are qualified, trained and have rights/access to check on a animal, thus giving the owners correct advice on horse care or an official warning if it a case of direct cruelty/neglect etc.

I think its good that you have noticed and are wanting to help the horse though, if only more people noticed things like this.
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I agree with Cruiseonamiro; there may be a very good reason this horse wears a rug.
My Tb is 19yrs old and absolutely hates being cold - so she is always a rug weight up from anything else at the yard. If it rains more than a shower, even in 20 - 25oC temps, she will start shivering and shaking, and can drop condition in a day.
Perhaps before taking rugs off, the OP should get in touch with her local BHS Welfare Officer and ask them to see the owner. Unlike my experiences of the RSPCA, they tend to be tactful, responsive, helpful, and do actually know a bit about horses in order to give sensible advice.
S
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I saw 3 (together) yesterday with turnout rugs in 23 deg sunshine... I assume it's cos the owners are too b***y lazy to go and see their horses 2x per day and think they need them on at night so they just get left on.
It's very cruel! Interesting to know that the RSPCA 'might' do something.
 
Isn't it ironic, when rugs get stolen from the backs of horses in the middle of winter that this one is stuck with this rug on at this time of year! Personally, whatever the legal rights and wrongs,(and let's face it how interested are the police going to be in this?) if you manage to feel the horse and it is overheating I would go and get the rug off it.In my book animal welfare comes before going by the book.To stand by and do nothing when people are ignorant or neglectful with animals is condoning it.This seems straighforward from what you say,it's not like you're some member of the public complaining because 'the poor pony hasn't got a coat on in winter', as happens with feral shetlands/welsh/dartmoor etc ponies very often!
 
And with reference to Shilasdair,obviously your horse is very well cared for and monitored very closely, this horse left with the rug on since March 1st doesn't appear to have regular knowledgeable care, hence the concern.
 
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And with reference to Shilasdair,obviously your horse is very well cared for and monitored very closely, this horse left with the rug on since March 1st doesn't appear to have regular knowledgeable care, hence the concern.

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Yes, but I 'do' mine outside working hours - if you saw them in the middle of the day you might not realise anyone visited.
And I wish I had a pound for every smart*rse novicy fool who has said 'oh, your horse doesn't need a rug on in summer', and then later has suggested to me that she's younger - 'Are you sure she's 19yrs' etc...as she looks good for her age.
Horses are all individuals in their needs....
S
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It's all very well saying 'just take the rug off', this would be completely the wrong thing to do, and also then puts the responsibility back on to you to put the rug back on if the nights get colder.
 
Re Leah3horses, reporting them, or just contacting the owner is not doing nothing. the horse has clearly survived with the rug on until now, and there may be a genuine reason why it needs it. I would go absolutely ballistic if someone was to take a rug off my horse etc and im sure you would too - or at least be cross if you deemed someone to be itnerfering. They obvs care enough to rotate their paddocks. Just be careful how you go about it as, after all, horses are an extensions of ourselves and it is the horse you are worried about, you don't want this to become personal!
 
I have actually taken a rug off a horse before but that's cos it had been 'dumped' in a field alongside the tarck to our field and the rug was hanging round its neck. I knew the owner was not going to visit (he was a local farrier - why he didn't care for his horse properly I don't know). The horse was rather underweight, we also made sure it had water as it was left a lo of the time without.

Fortunately he sold the horse to someone that would look after it!

Thing is with some horses, if they are old and look ragged and thin some people will rug them up as often you do get a lot of people who mean well but don't ask who call the RSPCA as they see it as a neglect case so rugging up to effectively hide the condition stops the RSPCA being called unecessarily. We had a v v old pony who looked horrendous really but he was regularly checked by the vet and was fine just v thin (he was about 40 when he died). We have also had some LW rugs on our 2 horses recently cos we have just clipped them for competing and it was a bit cool some days. I would certainly maybe try locate the owner and ask them how come they have a rug on and suggest it may be a tad warm/uncomfortable. If you can't find them then yes leave a polite note expressing your concern.
 
STEADY ON EVERYONE!!!!!
Do you not read what I post??? I said (and will say again for the 3rd time) 'I will go and put a note on gate, and then take it further if the rug is still on the horse 2moro'!!!!!!!!!!!
It was only a joke about going in my camo gear & taking it off!!!!!! Has everyone lost their sense of humour today!! Must be the weather!!!!
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