Police shoot stray horse 19 times!

3DE

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Found this article, and could not really believe it

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8389..._times/?ref=mr

copy below:
Police deny shooting Dunnington stray horse 19 times

9:09am Tuesday 14th September 2010

ANGRY villagers have claimed it took 19 shots by a police marksman to kill a stray horse at Dunnington, near York.
Several residents contacted The Press to complain yesterday after North Yorkshire Police said two horses were “humanely destroyed” on Sunday after breaking loose and running wild.
Pam Frankland claimed the scene as police chased one of the horses was like “cowboys and Indians”, and she was disgusted because 19 shots had to be fired before the animal died.
Another resident said the animal should have been tranquilised or captured instead, adding: “Supposedly trained officers took 19 shots to kill it.
He said: “They may as well have machine gunned the animal. There is real cruelty and incompetence there.”
A third claimed the animal was first wounded in one leg, and then another before eventually being put down after 19 shots.
But a force spokesman, while admitting one horse “had to be shot a number of times before it fell to the ground, while the other was destroyed quickly,” denied as many as 19 shots were needed.
He said numerous methods of catching and controlling the horses were tried throughout the day, and officers received help from members of the public, farm workers and vets.
He said: “However, all attempts proved unsuccessful as the horses were very wild and would not allow themselves to be approached.”
He said every effort was made to avoid having to shoot the horses, but said: “Ultimately public safety has to be the over-riding concern of the police. We simply could not risk the very real possibility of the horses causing a serious or even fatal road traffic collision.”
 
Surely there must have been a better way - darted by a decent marksman as one option?

The press report says that they were 'wild', does that mean wild in a feral way, or extremely stressed and panicky. I just cannot believe they could be be coralled into a safe area, especially as they were obviously in a populated area and posing a risk to traffic and people.

Just awful for those who saw it.
 
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8391830.Police_shooting_of_stray_horses_defended_by_vet/?ref=mr


I'm even more shocked that attending vet left the scene having been told the horses were to be shot. IMO he should have remained in an advisory capacity if nothing else.

Very sad but I do understand you cannot have horses continually bolting across busy roads and it seems like other avenues had been tried to capture them but failed. I would question the eyesight of the cops though, 19 shots ???
 
What good does shooting them do?
Marksman and a dart surely would have sufficed, the poor ponies were obviously scared in the surroundings!
 
FGS - that is why i'd always call a local keeper or farmer to kill a wild animal humanely - the caliber ws probably too low to start with... :(
 
What a scene that must have been. What did they think they were doing. Occasionally a cow escapes from a market and has to be shot to prevent a serious accident, but I have never heard that it takes 19 shots to kill it.

Presumably they must have either been too far away, the horses were moving around or they weren't using the right calibre gun.
 
I think Id be questioning the recall of the witnesses too.....19 shots sounds like a number inflated by chinese whispers. Its still disgusting however many it took to despatch these animals. Police marksmen are trained to bring men down but shouldnt be using the same gung ho treatment on an animal....do they not know about head shots....Im sure that has made a big news story over the past few years???
 
why did'nt they practice on some criminals first!!! useless
Tossers... half of them cant drive for toffee and oftern crash when chaseing crooks, now it seems they cant shoot straight...
 
Copied and pasted the comment by a witness, simply horrific:

kmt1977, York says...
10:02pm Tue 14 Sep 10

I have read the comments above and this ravman4 person maybe you should be shot eh, maybe in the same way and then see if you can comment, you don't even live in the town you idiot!

I am an experienced horseperson who has my horses on the estate where he horses where shot, here are some facts, afterall assumptions should not be made as we know in a court of law facts and evidence is cruical to any case. Not tit for tat comedy as you so comment you half wit, you obviously have the intelligence of some dragged up chav!

On the first day that these horses were loose the landowner and various people from the estate including myself contacted the police to inform them of the loose horses, they did not want to know, we contacted the RSPCA who again were not interested and said it was no responisibilty of theirs! again other animal welfare organisations were contacted with no help from nobody, we asked the police if they could ask a vet at to come and perhaps dart the horses so they could be moved safely to a field as the horses were frightened and who can blame them, the farmers daughter even went to see the horses owners who denyed ownership (the old chap had passed away and the horses let loose). On saturday I had almost caught one of the horse when 2 police officers came up shouting and carrying on scaring the horses and driving them up to the A1079. I was not pleased about this utter lack of common sense the police had shown, I asked them again if they could visit the owners and ask them to do something, which they seemed disinterested. I informed them then that there was not way in the world they would catch the horses if they carried on shouting and scaring the horses. I also asked them again if they could get a vet to come to stop the horses being injured by tranquilising them and to save an accident if the horses got onto the road. They informed me this couldn't be done due to the cost.

I wonder what the cost is of them coming out acting like they did on sunday, bullets, 4x4's, manpower etc over the cost of tranquilisers, far less I can tell you.

The horses shot were no where near the road and the police only did what they did as they were sick of phone calls and wanted rid of the situation, there was no danger to traffic as the horses were on a private estate. I understand the implications of if the horses got on the road and the risk of causing accidents, but should not have been dealt with in the way this has. There was no vet on site on sunday and no vet would have allowed for the police to continue in this way, There is no reason for the police to chase the horses with 4x4's, common sense with people with no knowledge of horses know's this is a ridulous idea and only causing more calamity. The police had not been there all day, they turned up at around 4.30pm, the first horse was shot, the second a chestnut pony which was not wild (just petrified) was chased around until it was shattered and could have been easily caught, to the police it was like fun target practice stood on top of their 4x4's like dukes of hazzard, one marksman shot the horses in its rear leg off above the hock, shattering the leg into pieces, the horses leg was hanging off, the horse got up in sheer distress, this horse must have been in absolute agony, then another markman shot its other front leg clean off, the horse still struggling about, then got shot another 19 times, the last shot in the horses head, some 25 mins after its back leg was shot to pieces. This is the actual account of this situation, so no, this horse nor was the other humanly killed, just a barbaric, cruel end for incident animals that should have never have happened and why was not tranquilizers tried first?? No one is answering that question, the police do not want you to hear this account and have tried to brush it under the carpet, two horses are left and need homes if anyone can offer anything I think, all of these horses have been through enough. The RSPCA are a discrace and not fit for our donations and do not actually care for animals. I have photograpic evidence of the dead horse showing its legs blown off and the endless bullet holes, this will not stop here, I will make sure everything is done to make sure the whole country is aware of this incident. If anyone can give a home to the other 2 horses get in touch with the press for my contact details. Thanks

BTW a later comment says the other horses have now found a home
 
Witness also says they have photographic proof of the incident and the chestnut pony who was apparently shot 19 times. It doesn't make nice reading at all but I would like to first of all know that there is proof, if so, someone needs to answer why it would take 19 bullets and 25 minutes to euthanise one pony.
 
Brownmare that is a horrific account of what happened. I hope those who have complained won't let it go.

There should be an investigation. IMO this is downright cruelty.
 
This has left me disgusted. Why didn't they try to tranquilise the horses first? and why didn't the RSPCA want to know? Surely they should have at least tried to help. I have heard many bad things said about them before and have to say they are seriously going down in my estimation. People have some serious questions to answer regarding the way this whole situation has been handled. Those poor horses, can't even imagine the fear and pain they must have gone through.
 
First of all I have to admit I haven't read all the posts as I found them too distressing. A speed read of Brownmare's detailed post has haunted me all night.

Surely to goodness this merits a formal complaint, if not prosecution for cruelty. What the hell are our welfare laws for if this is allowed to happen.

Putting the horse involvement to one side, what the heck are the police up to, spraying bullets around the place like that.
 
I used to work as a civvie in the Police and my OH used to be a firearms response officer, however he is also a horse rider and horse lover. I do generally support the Police in what they do . Believe me, when I saw some of the people they gave firearms to in my force, to be trained "shots", I had reason to be concerned. I wouldn't have trusted them with a water pistol! IF what happened is the truth, then there are a lot of concerns. They can check the firearms used to see how many shots were fired. If ever there was a reason NOT to arm all Police Officers then this is it. Too many gung-ho thugs in there now, with no communication skills or common sense!
 
OMG!!! That is utterly disgusting. I read this at first and thought/assumed it was an american article - I didn't actually read the N Yorks bit and can't open the actual article but that is horrific. Surely they could have herded them into a nearby 'safe' field?? I hope there is an official complaint and investigation into this. there is absolutely NO need to shoot any stray horse surely. If they were 'wild' then a tranquiliser would surely have been enough if the horses truly could not be caught by other means??

Disgraceful
 
I am absolutely sickened and disgusted by this, so much so last night I hardly slept for thinking about it.

19 shots to finally put the animal down? Two shots fired into the horses legs, shattering them? 25 MINUTES from 1st shot to last that finally ended this poor animals agony?

And these are I take it are trained police firearms officers, then I have to ask what the hell were they playing at?! From the sound of the reports they didnt aim to shoot the horse and kill it immediately/a.s.a.p but more prolong its agony for entertainment/target practice for 25 minutes by gun happy idiots.

There is NO excuse for this animals 25 minute agonising death, none at all.

Does anyone know where or who I can complain to. I am really really sickened and angry by this :mad:

Sadiemay
 
I am absolutely sickened and disgusted by this, so much so last night I hardly slept for thinking about it.

19 shots to finally put the animal down? Two shots fired into the horses legs, shattering them? 25 MINUTES from 1st shot to last that finally ended this poor animals agony?

And these are I take it are trained police firearms officers, then I have to ask what the hell were they playing at?! From the sound of the reports they didnt aim to shoot the horse and kill it immediately/a.s.a.p but more prolong its agony for entertainment/target practice for 25 minutes by gun happy idiots.

It has been running through my head too that if these are our country's police marksmen then you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of them taking you out!! I also did wonder if they shot the poor pony's legs first to stop it running away....but that in itself does not explain why 19 bullets were needed and the length of time involved, I mean if they were accurate enough to hit two legs, why not a head shot?

This just doesn't make sense to me, if the witness reports are accurate why on earth would they choose to do it this way and the only thing I keep coming up with is what you have stated above. :(
 
I am absolutely sickened and disgusted by this, so much so last night I hardly slept for thinking about it.

19 shots to finally put the animal down? Two shots fired into the horses legs, shattering them? 25 MINUTES from 1st shot to last that finally ended this poor animals agony?

And these are I take it are trained police firearms officers, then I have to ask what the hell were they playing at?! From the sound of the reports they didnt aim to shoot the horse and kill it immediately/a.s.a.p but more prolong its agony for entertainment/target practice for 25 minutes by gun happy idiots.

There is NO excuse for this animals 25 minute agonising death, none at all.

Does anyone know where or who I can complain to. I am really really sickened and angry by this :mad:

Sadiemay

This has left me utterly shocked and appalled too. I e-mailed them last night and this is the response I got:

Good evening.

Thank you for your email and your comments. No person at North Yorkshire Police took this incident lightly and all decisions were made with the full cooperation, advice and backing of several experts including the RSPCA, Vets and tactical advisors. Most of which were at the scene and all were working together to resolve this incident.

These wild horses had already ran out in front of traffic on a major trunk road several times. The concequencies of a passing motorcyclist hitting such an animal does not bear thinking about.

The Police sometimes have to deal with and make unpopular decisions to resolve incidents to ensure the safety of the public, but I stress once again that this is never done without a thorough investigation and consultation process.

Kind regards

Paul Richardson 4603
Team leader Band 4
Force Control Room York,
Fulford Road,
York. YO10 4BY.
08456060247 ex 1218
07789995656
Paul.Richardson4603@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

More contact details can be found on: http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1002

I like how he stated the RSPCA - they didn't even want to know!! As for vets, I have lost track of how many times they've given out bad advice regarding animal behaviour.

I am fuming at this!! R.I.P poor horses.
 
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