Police horse blinded by firework

Poor boy I hope it's not going to cost him his life .
Time to knock bonfire night on the head .If it becomes a magnet for these appalling thugs and you cant deny it's an anti catholic festival and would not be allowed if say Muslims effigys where being burned .
And fireworks are dangerous on so many levels .
 
Protests always seem to end in violence. I know it's a right but what about the right to be bloody safe. Anyone living in London can't go out when these things are happening.

So many reports of firework abuse let night. It's beyond a joke. Home explosives are banned why on earth are over the counter ones not ;(
 
I signed the petition that was on here and have just read the response.....what rubbish these people write , they have said they will not be changing the fireworks regulations as they think most people abide by the rules...what a joke!!!!!! it makes me mad!!!!!!! if fireworks were not freely available this poor police horse would not have his painful injuries which may be life threatening
 
I too have signed and had the response. Unbelievable ,apparently they arnt too loud!!!!!!!!!!!!! and theresa curfew on their use. And of course, everyone uses them responsibly.
 
Lets hope that anyone who caused injury or endangerment to either a police horse or an officer is identified and made an example of.

From the BBC, a list of those injured (plus Embassy's rider, who has a broken wrist after falling off)

◾Embassy has injuries to his face, fetlock and front leg
◾Illustrious has an injury to his eye, believed to have been caused by a stick
◾Quartz has an injury on his hind leg believed to have been caused by glass
◾Qwerty has been hurt on his hind quarters
◾Heather has a cut to her fetlock on her hind leg
◾Quixote has injuries to his front legs
 
The gov response is ridiculous. But I have experience of them and they respond to everyone saying nothing will happen unless you get 100k. They post the negative response so people think it's a lost cause and don't sign.

So keep sharing! Keep signing!
 
more to the point why are we using horses to police full stop? I think the days of people having respect for animals is long gone. If protesters are going to behave like this, and they have perfect right to protest, then the answer must be armoured vehicles for everyone's safety.
Fireworks could be solved very quickly by needing a council permit to have a display and the purchasers needing similar vetting as we need for firearms certificates. Health and safety to the fore!! Their sale would only be for organised displays direct from the manufacturer.
If the organisers caused safety issues they would loose their licence.
 
Every time I think of those poor horses it makes my eyes well up. Sad to say, maybe horses should not be used to patrol protests, people seem to be incapable of conducting themselves with a minim of human decency these days
 
Goldenstar said:
Poor boy I hope it's not going to cost him his life .
Time to knock bonfire night on the head .If it becomes a magnet for these appalling thugs and you cant deny it's an anti catholic festival and would not be allowed if say Muslims effigys where being burned .
And fireworks are dangerous on so many levels .
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It had nothing to do with bonfire night!! It was an anti capitalist rally again. They dont care.
 
Digger66 said:
Time to insist that protestors don't wear masks, I think.
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Very true !!! these protesters are so brave when they can hide behind the mask

.Perhaps the thread title is misleading as it appears none of the injuries to horses were caused by fireworks in the first place

I know I will be swimming against the tide here ,but horses are still a very effective means of controlling a crowd ,do you really think the Met use them just because they look pretty. I am afraid if you dont believe horses should do this work why should we as society expect others to do it for us and not have the tools they think are the right ones.
 
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popsdosh said:
maybe they are an effective way but to me that doesn't mean it is the right way in this sort of situation. Yes I expect the police to police and I expect them to have the necessary tools. I just don't think putting horses in this situation, where they could be seriously hurt, is the right tool. What right to we have to expect horses to have lasers shone in their faces and fireworks thrown at them? Is that what a civilised society expects for their animals whether they look pretty or not?
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I dont think this scenario was correct for horses but they play a vital role in other places and they are still needed for display etc. I'd be sad to see them go.
 
Has anybody noticed that in the police press release none of the horses was blinded let alone by a firework. Horrid that they were injured but also a lesson in why it's important to not instantly believe everything in the press.
 
paddy555 said:
maybe they are an effective way but to me that doesn't mean it is the right way in this sort of situation. Yes I expect the police to police and I expect them to have the necessary tools. I just don't think putting horses in this situation, where they could be seriously hurt, is the right tool. What right to we have to expect horses to have lasers shone in their faces and fireworks thrown at them? Is that what a civilised society expects for their animals whether they look pretty or not?
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But it's OK to expect our police officers to be put in this situation, where they can get seriously hurt and sometimes even killed!!!? On this basis would you like our police to stop using police dogs too?

And you think we live in a civilised society?
 
hairycob said:
Has anybody noticed that in the police press release none of the horses was blinded let alone by a firework. Horrid that they were injured but also a lesson in why it's important to not instantly believe everything in the press.
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Yep, that's the media for you. Situations do change by the hour and so does the reporting.
 
chillipup said:
Yep, that's the media for you. Situations do change by the hour and so does the reporting.
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To be fair to the sun in the link put up by the OP nowhere did it mention horses being directly injured by fireworks . I think maybe posters on here misinterpreted the photo without reading the article .Just to be clear there is no mention of horse being blinded either perhaps the OP is looking for a job with the Sun.
 
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popsdosh said:
To be fair to the sun in the link put up by the OP nowhere did it mention horses being directly injured by fireworks . I think maybe posters on here misinterpreted the photo without reading the article .Just to be clear there is no mention of horse being blinded either perhaps the OP is looking for a job with the Sun.
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Yep, quite agree popsdosh.
 
chillipup said:
But it's OK to expect our police officers to be put in this situation, where they can get seriously hurt and sometimes even killed!!!? On this basis would you like our police to stop using police dogs too?

And you think we live in a civilised society?
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While I absolutely endorse the final sentence of this post, the main difference for me, is that people can choose to become police officers, with full knowledge of the risks, they make an informed decision to persue that career, the horses do not make an informed choice to take those risks.
 
YorksG said:
While I absolutely endorse the final sentence of this post, the main difference for me, is that people can choose to become police officers, with full knowledge of the risks, they make an informed decision to persue that career, the horses do not make an informed choice to take those risks.
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We as humans, have bred specific horses to do certain jobs, so in this respect do you think race horses have the option of making an informed choice? No, neither do horses that are evented, show jumped, used for dressage, driving etc etc.....

We use horses for our benefit, not for theirs.
 
chillipup said:
We as humans, have bred specific horses to do certain jobs, so in this respect do you think race horses have the option of making an informed choice? No, neither do horses that are evented, show jumped, used for dressage, driving etc etc.....

We use horses for our benefit, not for theirs.
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Totally agree and lets be totally honest they are some of the best looked after and trained equines in this world. Testament to that is the rider who was thrown off and broke their wrist still running after their horse and I am sure more worried of its welfare than their own.
I dont see anybody who has horses themselves can criticise using them in this way we all use them in some way alien to their natural life.
 
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I wonder if they we're expecting things to get that bad? The horses were hardly wearing full riot gear, some didn't even have back boots on, when you normally see them fully booted up and wearing those padded quarter sheets. Do they have chest protection too, or am I thing of US police horses?
 
I think they said blinded as in the context of "blinded by the low sunlight whilst driving" to explain why he was freaked out, rather than his eyes physically damaged. I really hope that is the case, anyway :(
 
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