Stray Horses shot by council in Hertfordshire

[Cinnamontoast]

My OH is forever shepherding them back off the A41 or into the field opposite Top Golf. If mine escaped, I'd hope someone would make more of an effort to find me rather than just shoot him

 

[Goldenstar]

They had no right to kill someone's horses after all of 3/4 hours?!
When I came across loose horses in the a41 the police came and shut the road down whilst I helped them catch and return the horses to the field they had broken the fence of.

Shameful farce.

If they have a concern that the horse might cause a RTA by getting on the road yes they have .
Better two dead horses than some innocent person driving a car .
The police officer in charge made the decision in the case I was involved in based on the fact no one could guarantee the pony would not go back on the to the road .
I just wonder why they did not get yummy food laced with enough sedalin to stop an elephant , however I suppose that's a risk to humans too .
If they where not handled they would have been in a difficult situation .

 

[LadyRascasse]

one call was presented by a third party as being from the owners saying that if everyone left the site they would come and collect the ponies. This was not practical to achieve however.

Sorry but if they were the owners they were in the wrong, they should have come down and spoken to the council and police then if needs be they could go and let them get on with it. I feel the owners were in the wrong and only the ponies where the ones who lost out in this. Sad end but worst fate than death and sounds very humane. Personally I would prefer my horse was dealt with this way than allowed to stray onto a road and get hit by a car and really suffer.

 

[flirtygerty]

Got an answer, at least they checked for chips. Still not happy that they didn't call someone from stables, nonsense that there wasn't insurance in place!

'On Tuesday 4th March our animal control enforcement officer received a call that 2 horses were loose in the grounds of Leavesden Country Park. She arrived on site at approximately 1.30pm and met up with the Park Ranger. They came across 2 ponies on the football pitch and tried unsuccessfully to approach them. Numerous attempts were made including trying to lure the ponies with food, however the ponies were excitable and broke into a run whenever anyone moved towards them. They appeared to be wild. As there were many people in the park including loose dogs the officers called for assistance from an equine welfare agency. When help arrived attempts were again made to get near the ponies whilst keeping members of the public and their dogs away. Officers called 101 for the Police as it appeared the ponies would get onto Bedmond Road. When the Police Intervention Officer arrived he advised that he was concerned about the ponies getting onto the road. The TRDC officers explained a plan to create a corral using crash barriers from the Council Depot, however this would not have been possible until the next day as by this time the Depot was closed. The Police Officer advised he was not happy to leave the ponies overnight. Several people did offer their help and one call was presented by a third party as being from the owners saying that if everyone left the site they would come and collect the ponies. This was not practical to achieve however. A slaughterman was eventually called and whilst he did arrive on a quad bike he did not chase the ponies or cause them to be even more excitable. The Police cleared the site of members of the public and had officers on points to prevent people walking in. The first pony was shot with a single round. The slaughterman did follow the second pony which ran for a short distance and was then dispatched again with a single shot. The use of tranquilisers was not considered appropriate as the ponies could still have run and caused an accident after being darted.
I appreciate that this was an unfortunate situation however officers did not have any option given the circumstances and correct procedures were followed. One of the ponies was subsequently found to be chipped, however there was no phone number and an old address. No reports have been received of missing ponies since the incident.
Offers of help from third parties were made however it would be inappropriate to take these up in such situations for insurance reasons alone. Had the ponies got out onto surrounding roads and caused an accident or even hurt someone in the Park there could have been even more severe consequences.
Regards,　
Geof Muggeridge
Director of Community & Environmental Services'

I got the same email

 

[FireFly29]

Deleted

 

[harveysmom]

They dont go around shooting car theives but they hammer around at reckless speeds endangering public safety
Seems like police got all excited about getting the chance to play with their toys
Why not just shut the park until the situation could be brought under control

 

[lizbet]

Disgusting, those poor horses must have been terrified being chased by a quad, everyone should send an email, stating why this action was wrong, three of mine escaped onto a busy main road, luckily not for long, police called the local EC, I called the police when I found the field empty and the report of loose horses had just come in, police and staff from the EC came, by which time the beggars were caught and headcollared, so a happy ending, but I moved shortly after.
Come on people let this stupid council know how wrong they were, off to send an email[/mQUOTE]me to

 

[PeterNatt]

If you read the statement by Geoff Muggeridge it says that the slaughterman arrived on a Quad Bike. The first horse was not chased and shot straight away and the second horse was followed and then shot.
I would like to know which equine welfare organisation advised them and I would also like to see an independent enquiry and report as to what occurred.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

They did not answer my question about which welfare organisation was called. I understand Redwings bring out mobile fencing units to capture feral horses. I think they will continue to fob us off

 

[Magicmillbrook]

I had a feeling there would be more to it than the newspaper report suggested. Whilst I too would have liked to have seen more effort put into corralling the horses, if the police were worried about the threat of danger to human life by the horses straying, then this was the only option. If anyone wants to point a big blamey finger it should be directed to the owners, not just the Council.

 

[lizbet]

In the report from horse and hound it says the ponies would have been kept for two weeks before being PTS.Who is saying this is it RSPCA?
Forgive me reading on the run and trying to keep up.Because if thats the case they say they were not contacted.Also it is not much time for a charity to rehome two ponies.

 

[FireFly29]

In the report from horse and hound it says the ponies would have been kept for two weeks before being PTS.Who is saying this is it RSPCA?
Forgive me reading on the run and trying to keep up.Because if thats the case they say they were not contacted.Also it is not much time for a charity to rehome two ponies.

The council operates a holding policy where animals that are abandoned/loose/fly grazed on council property can be seized and held for 14 days.
If the owner doesn't come forward in that time then the animal is pts.
I understand that in order to claim the animal the owner needs a valid passport for the horse and somewhere suitable to keep it.
Rescue centres are full to breaking point and are struggling with the numbers of unwanted animals, there isn't room to keep taking in more and more.
Its sad but I think in this case the council were in a difficult situation and ultimately I think even if the horses had been corralled the outcome would have been the same.

 

[honetpot]

We have fly grazed horses not far from us on a golf course, which is not far from a one of the main A roads, there is usually some sort of accident there every day. As the land owner you have the duty of care even though they are not your animals and I suppose if the police said the risk was too great that would override any of the usual considerations. Not the best way to euthanize anything but I would imagine if you have a policeman telling you they need to be controlled quickly you would have to get on with it.
Our fly grazed ponies are now tethered by the side of the busy dual carriage way, its an accident waiting to happen, I have written to my MP but not had a reply, we all need to make a noise about this problem
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Statement from Council Leader which says both horses were shot first time, although the previous statement says it took two shots to kill the second pony. Strikes me that they just couldn't be bothered. No rescue organisation came out.

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/ne...troyed__by_council_following_four_hour_chase/

 

[DebbieCG]

I agree some points are not making sense. Although sometimes media/press reports are inaccurate and can be slightly misleading and do not always report the correct facts initially, and while it is appreciated the main problem was keeping the horses from getting onto the nearby road if the park entrance and exits were being supervised, the man arriving (but not chasing the horses) on a probably noisy quad bike seems to go against being reasonable.

Apparently it was getting dark after four hours of the horses not being able to be caught and if the man shooting the poor horses could get close enough to shoot 'accurately' why not then close enough to be caught?

Hopefully a lesson will be learnt to call in more experienced horse people if anything like this should happen again rather than the people/group that were.

As horse owners we know catching horses can be difficult but it seems far too extreme to shoot. Could the roads not have been closed and diverted until more experience and help was requested?

"Only an expert should kill a horse - there is a spot the size of a thumb nail on the animal's head which the bullet, or humane killer, has to hit to prevent suffering."

I wonder how the guy who arrived on the quad bike did this in the approaching dark and with horses that couldn't be caught by what seems non-professionals?

 

[magicmoose]

I'm certainly not condoning what the council did, but looking at the park on Google Maps, the layout was not conducive to penning the horses in. There appear to be multiple entrances, thin bits of hedge that animals could push through and wooded sections.

None of us can say what we would have done would have given a better result, without having been there and seen the horses and the environment. It's very sad though and hopefully more details will be forthcoming to help plan to prevent this happening again.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=le...F-8&ei=PKk2U_feHauI7AbLvICYDg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

 

[lizbet]

Thanks for clear up firefly29