Stray Horses shot by council in Hertfordshire

Believe me, many of us have emailed the council, all received the stock rubbish response about how they were a danger to the public (in a park?!) and that they were humanely PTS while galloping round being chased by a like on a quad bike. :( I have further complained and asked which horse welfare agency they claim to have called out (I hear they didn't) and if the horses were scanned for chips and why an actual horsey person wasn't asked for from one of the eleven yards within 15 minutes' drive. :( Surely calmly leaving horses to graze then shaking a bucket of feed at them would have been the way forward?
 
cinnamontoast said:
Believe me, many of us have emailed the council, all received the stock rubbish response about how they were a danger to the public (in a park?!) and that they were humanely PTS while galloping round being chased by a like on a quad bike. :( I have further complained and asked which horse welfare agency they claim to have called out (I hear they didn't) and if the horses were scanned for chips and why an actual horsey person wasn't asked for from one of the eleven yards within 15 minutes' drive. :( Surely calmly leaving horses to graze then shaking a bucket of feed at them would have been the way forward?
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I was wondering the same things, sounds like complete bunch of idiots over reacting and not having a clue about equines
 
Oh my god this is horrifying.

What a crowd of absolute idiots (the council and police) to let this happen. I just can't get my head around how anyone could be so clueless and needlessly callous? So utterly STUPID. This is blatant cruelty, there is no denying it.

If they were galloping down a motorway, then yes, maybe this would be justified, but they were in a park?!??!?!?! If they'd been left alone they would probably have just grazed quietly... Argh, so so sad.

I so feel for the owner(s), what a heartbreaking thing to go through. If this happened to any of my dear boys, there would be hell to pay.
 
I can't believe they shot them dead, they hadn't even allowed any time for owners to come forward. Truly shocking and surely not legal?
 
Another disgusting case of council and police stupidity. Who the hell shot them? Was he a paid marks man? Does he not have any compassion or just love money?! What if these horses were stolen or let out just for fun (or accident) and a families beloved pets were just slaughtered. Again brings up the microchipping thing, what the effing point if they won't even attempt to check!!!!

Think I'm off to look into freeze branding :(
 
Read article. Now just going to lay in a darkened room with a cold compress on my forehead.

In morning, I will turn my horses field into Equine version of Alcatraz just in case he escapes and is subsequently shot.

Probably not shot dead right away mind you, this task is always difficult while chasing horse on quad bike, it is difficult to find a good head kill shot following a horses arse....

To me, this story is nothing short of severe animal cruelty.
 
Dreadful. cinnamontoast, do you have the councils email? Maybe if as many people as possibly email them something will be done, even if its just a public apology and a promise it won't happen again
 
Disgusting turn of events. Council needs a big slap. If anyone is thinking of doing anything about it I will join the club. Pm me. I am a lawyer if it helps, so happy to add some weight to the letter. So busy so haven't given it enough thought but will defo write and say my piece either way, and hopefully add to the at least educational message that this council has coming their way!
 
Their answer to my email expressing my disgust: from what I hear, no horse agency actually came out to try to catch the horses. There is a yard round the corner :(

The decision to put down the horses was made very reluctantly in the interests of public safety and the Council's response involved the assistance of a horse welfare agency.
Please find below a council statement issued today which I trust explains the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident.

Statement: Stray horses at Leavesden Country Park on 4 March
"Two unregistered stray horses which were galloping unsupervised in the Country Park were put down following a four hour attempt by the Police and the District Council to capture them.
The horses were an immediate danger to dog walkers and to children in the park and were at risk of straying onto the A41, Woodside Road, East Lane or College Road. The decision to put down the horses was made reluctantly in the interests of the safety of the public. This was undertaken quickly and humanely under careful supervision. Assistance was provided by a horse welfare agency."
- Rebecca Emmett, Head of Regulatory Services, Three Rivers District Council
Notes
Attempts were made to find the owners who have not come forward.
Landowners have a legal responsibility for the welfare and security of livestock on their land whether they are there with or without consent.
If livestock cause an accident then the landowner as well as the livestock owner are equally responsible. Wherever possible the District Council deals with fly grazing horses under the Green Yard Scheme, where they are removed and held for 14 days.
As the horses went onto the nearby roads the Police were called to assist in the event that a road closure was needed and to assist in their removal.

Catherine Luff
Three Rivers District Council
Customer Services Centre
E-mail: Enquiries@threerivers.gov.uk
FAX: 01923 896119
Tel: 01923 776611 (8am - 6pm, Mon to Fri)


Three Rivers welcomes all comment on our services. If for any reason you are unhappy with our service, or would like to comment further, please contact Billy Hall, Customer Services Manager via enquiries@threerivers.gov.uk or 01923 727270. Alternatively, you can write to him at Three Rivers District Council, Three Rivers House, Northway, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1RL
 
Darting in that situation would never be an option. Darting uses Large Animal Immobilon. This stuff isslethal to humans. Better to be shot by a bullet. When using the vet draws up the antidote and hands to a responsible person before touching the Immobilon. Thats how little time there is!

From the animal pov when hit they gallop off towards any water before they collapse. Generally used in the wild where there a no people or in a controlled situation in a closed zoo or safari park.

No idea why normal catching methods failed or weren't tried but darting isn't as easy as the tv programmes makes out!
 
I agree that darting would have been difficult, but surely the most humane method would have been to close the park to the public and herd the horses into an enclosed area to be caught? We manage it with wild moorland ponies that are rounded up.

It sounds similar to the incident that happened near York when it reportedly took 19 shots, yes, 19! to bring a straying horse down, slightly different scenario in that they were on a road though. Disgusting and inhumane treatment of the poor animals.
 
Sounds like it was handled very badly. I don't expect the District Council or Police have much experience or knowledge in how to herd loose horses and that may have exacerbated the charging about. I would think loose dogs would be more of a threat to the horses than the horses to dogs! Yes, closing the park to the public and letting the horses calm down would have been a wise move I think.
 
amandap said:
Sounds like it was handled very badly. I don't expect the District Council or Police have much experience or knowledge in how to herd loose horses and that may have exacerbated the charging about. I would think loose dogs would be more of a threat to the horses than the horses to dogs! Yes, closing the park to the public and letting the horses calm down would have been a wise move I think.
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This.
 
This is APPALLING !! Sounds like panic and frustration on the part of the council and police. I'm so shocked and saddened by this story, just awful. I really feel like the police need some mandatory training on how to deal with horses in this kind of scenario. There's a lot of horses in Britain so chances are in their career police are going to come up against an incident involving them. Perhaps if they were given formal training this kind if thing could be avoided as I'm sure to someone who has no idea how to handle a horse or has maybe never even seen one up close this could be a fighting situation. Doesn't really excuse the lack of thought that went into dealing with these poor animals though. So terrible.
 
I can't believe their response to you Cinnamon Toast, I feel increasingly that I live in a world full of strange people. Those poor horses, and their poor owners. If I were them I wouldn't be paying my Council Tax, they could burn for it.

My mare spent a couple of months on loan to a lady in that area, it's lovely, I can't believe they couldn't have contained them in that park to keep them off the road, and as for them posing a threat to children and dog walkers...well... chasing them around with quad bikes probably wasn't helping, and if they couldn't catch and contain them I am not confident they were killed quickly or humanely.

My horses have escaped a few times in the past, mostly due to people not shutting gates, we've padlocked all the ones we are legally allowed to and we are now surrounded by a housing estate, I dread to think what will happen to them if they escape nowadays.
 
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Idiots. Those horses must have been terrified, being chased by a quad bike, especially the surviving one after the first was shot. Ignorant, stupid idiots.
 
Some interesting thoughts on this.
My take on it.
Parks are rarely fully enclosed so closing off would not be possible.
Park surrounded by roads so definite danger to life. I've witnessed the result of a horse getting loose at a comp held on a local park, running on to the road and being hit by a car.
Horses rarely just graze when exposed to a very strange enviroment and can become extremely diificult to catch in their hightened state.
Think about how most horses react when turned out for first time in a new yard. Multiply it several fold due to situation then decide if you would advise groups of mums, kids, dog walkers etc to wander across the field at the time.
Whilst the council may have been able to handle the situation better I dont think they deserve the severe condemnation they are receiving.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing coupled with a slightly rose tinted view of how the horses would be behaving in the situation.
 
Utterly disgusting - horses do not gallop out of control for 2 hours without being "chased" or agitated, in this case it was a quad bike. Clueless idiots. The comments from a farmer on the daily mail article are horrifying of how the situation was "controlled".
 
This is wrong, in their comments:

"If livestock cause an accident then the landowner as well as the livestock owner are equally responsible"

The Animals Acts are quite clear that strict liability for animals lies on the part of the owner. The Council could only be liable if its duty of care were breached but since there are no cases that say that this would be so and cause a causal connection for a series of events which might never happen where horses are loose in a park for 4 hours, this is stretching the grounds of probability to excuse incompetence and cruelty. I hardly think getting in marksmen to shoot horses in a public park is a suitable outcome.

And what is an "unregistered" horse in this context? Do they mean without a passport? How did they know? Sounds like they think it was as a result of fly grazing, but shooting the horses is not a suitable response. What a bunch of idiots.

Since when did closing roads and taking time to do things competently become an excuse for cruelty. And what about the people in or around the park, who might have seen the horses shot, and who might suffer nervous shock as a result? How many shots does it take to shoot a loose horse from a distance?

So if any of us fall of our horses and they get loose for a few hours, we are now in danger of having them shot??
 
What amazes me is that it is almost impossible to get the RSPCA to go in to remove at risk horses from abuse and cruel situations until the horses are barely alive - yet this bunch of inexperienced council workers can take it upon themselves to shoot seemingly healthy horses without taking any advice from the experts ... preferably the local horse owners! Maybe the council or those that did this disgusting thing should be taken to court for animal cruelty!
 
Their statement claims the horses were unregistered - so unless they are talking out of their backsides (likely I know) someone must have been able to catch and restrain the horses long enough to scan them for microchips.

Which makes their course of action even more indefensible.
 
It will be interesting to hear if they were indeed 'dumped' as I suspect they may have been. It's so sad the number of colts given away on fb with the message 'must be gone this week'.
 
LittleBlackMule said:
Their statement claims the horses were unregistered - so unless they are talking out of their backsides (likely I know) someone must have been able to catch and restrain the horses long enough to scan them for microchips.

Which makes their course of action even more indefensible.
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Dead horses dont tend to move very much.
 
:mad:So the horses were a danger to the public - yet a man with a gun on a quad bike in the same public place where dog walkers and mothers with prams congregate isn't??!! What were his terms of engagement?? If it was safe to shoot them then surely there were no members of public in immediate danger which follows that the horses were also not close enough to the public to be a danger. And why oh why did some idiot think that chasing horses on a quad bike was a good idea?! Sorry, I can't even articulate myself properly, what were they thinking??!!! :mad:
 
"an attempt was made to find the owner"

What? It was 4 hours from they were starting to try and get them to the shot them. Thats not even a part time shift in work. How on EARTH would that be enough time to find the owner?! And who said they are unreg, they may be old and not under law required to be microchipped. Whilst i get the fact they may have ran into the road or into people, the fact is that even when being chased they did not! The council is now lying about involving a horse welfare agency, cause no agency would willingly let healthy horses be shot in public! What if the man missed and shot a human dead!!?!?
 
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