Scottish Horse Stud Raided

[tayloraus]

Shocked to hear a Scottish dressage stud has been raided for drugs they obtained illegally. It was a joint investigation. Wonder if that affects those that have purchased from them regarding medicines that new owners would never know they have been given.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/raid-nets-20-illegal-drugs-at-stud-farm-tr72806c3

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...caledonia-dressage-horses-sutherland-scotland

The medicines were seized under Regulation 26 (Possession of an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013

 

[Flicker]

that’s a lot of drugs

 

[ycbm]

Strange that the Times article describes bute as dangerous. I'd hazard a guess that every large stable and most small ones have a stock of bute "just in case".

I wonder where they got the stuff from and who whistle blew.
.

 

[honetpot]

that’s a lot of drugs

That exactly what I thought. A bit of DIY going on, to save on vet repro fees.

 

[[153312]]

Strange that the Times article describes bute as dangerous. I'd hazard a guess that every large stable and most small ones have a stock of bute "just in case".

I wonder where they got the stuff from and who whistle blew.
.

It's definitely dangerous unfortunately, though not so much to horses when given in appropriate doses, but can easily kill people and other animals. It works on the similar metabolic pathways as aspirin but with less immediate side effects in overdose until you get to the really dangerous stuff (internal hemorrhage and liver failure) - and you need comparatively higher doses of drug per unit of body mass to get that to point.

 

[stangs]

Some employee clearly didn't leave on good terms.

 

[Hallo2012]

given the remote location, the absolutely impossible weather they suffer every winter and the scale of the breeding id go as far as to say it would be stupid NOT to keep some of those drugs on stand by in the event of an emergency and a vet NOT being able to reach them.

these are long time and experienced breeders who arent going to be dishing out any drug without reason and years of experience would give them a very good lead on dosing.

may not be licensed for use in horses but are in fact used for horses week in week out.

an unfortunate witch hunt which i suspect could happen to a lot of the big breeding stations.....

 

[rabatsa]

If the drugs have not been vet prescribed I could see the problem, however if the vets had prescribed them for experienced people to use in an emergency that would be different.

 

[LEC]

given the remote location, the absolutely impossible weather they suffer every winter and the scale of the breeding id go as far as to say it would be stupid NOT to keep some of those drugs on stand by in the event of an emergency and a vet NOT being able to reach them.

these are long time and experienced breeders who arent going to be dishing out any drug without reason and years of experience would give them a very good lead on dosing.

may not be licensed for use in horses but are in fact used for horses week in week out.

an unfortunate witch hunt which i suspect could happen to a lot of the big breeding stations.....

Its absolute stupidity as every drug on that list has a licensed version in this country, so they could easily have been compliant and not had any issues.

 

[Velcrobum]

To shed a bit more light on this

https://www.northern-times.co.uk/ne...ud-farm-uncovers-illegal-animal-drugs-257813/

It is old news that has been resurrected by the publication of the report which a Times journalist has picked up on

 

[Hallo2012]

i dont have enough pharma knowledge to know if EVERY one does, some i see on the list are UK licensed drugs anyway but even so its not worth the reporting.

they arent being sold or misused.

 

[Arzada]

Does Defra Investigation Services publish a report of every investigation?

 

[druid]

Those drugs are all licensed in Aus or NZ so have been illegally imported along the way

 

[ihatework]

i dont have enough pharma knowledge to know if EVERY one does, some i see on the list are UK licensed drugs anyway but even so its not worth the reporting.

they arent being sold or misused.

They will have been imported from abroad without prescription. The formal statement clearly says they are products not authorised for veterinary use in the UK.

It’s a case of your takes your chances you pays your price. Avoiding UK veterinary costs and legislation to try and save a few quid. I just hope it was their own horses they used the products on and not unaware paying clients, the latter would be unforgivable for me.

This is just the equivalent of buying in abler to treat ulcers, but on a bigger scale.

 

[TPO]

This is just the equivalent of buying in abler to treat ulcers, but on a bigger scale

I was waiting for this comparison given how frequently it appears on here.

No idea about this stud but I know people in Trotting used to go to Canada to bring back who knows what to self medicate. That was apparently the cheapest and easiest way from Scotland.

 

[ycbm]

given the remote location, the absolutely impossible weather they suffer every winter and the scale of the breeding id go as far as to say it would be stupid NOT to keep some of those drugs on stand by in the event of an emergency and a vet NOT being able to reach them.

these are long time and experienced breeders who arent going to be dishing out any drug without reason and years of experience would give them a very good lead on dosing.

may not be licensed for use in horses but are in fact used for horses week in week out.

an unfortunate witch hunt which i suspect could happen to a lot of the big breeding stations.....

This. I was surprised when I read the list just now small the quantities and relatively innocuous the drugs were. And the Times reporting bute as not licenced for horses and as if it was really dangerous in normal use.
.

 

[Velcrobum]

There were no charges brought against the stud. The medicines were removed end of story.