Welfare case-what can be done?

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peaceandquiet1

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Know about through witness, but not seen myself, a number of horses left out in a muddy field with no grass hay or water, only alive because another horse owner has been feeding them-at great personal cost-and bring water to them. The owner is completely oblivious to their needs. The situation has been reported to the SSPCA- as the horses are in Scotland. They won't do anything because in their eyes the horses are being fed. Apparently their feet are long etc etc and the BHS and WHW won't get involved because the SSPCA are.
 
Not much will be done till the third party stops feeding them im afraid!! I must admit through experience a lot of welfare cases get blown out of all proportion as the story gets passed on. I am sure the SSPCA will keep their eye on things but their hands are tied till they can see the horses are suffering.Different people have different views on what is a welfare issue. Have the horses been abandoned ? It is possible the person feeding them can recoupe their costs from the owner well certainly under english law in the latest act to cover fly grazing. However thats a legal thing and not something the welfare agencies can get involved in.
 
Sspca are rubbish and won't do anything if they have water and look to have food. WHW are your best bet, I've phoned them once and they were really good.
 
popsdosh said:
The OP has already said they wont get involved
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When I phoned WHW they told me the sspca was involved with the case I had phoned them about. It's not ideal but if you phone up about a week or so after and report it again they will check. That happened in my case as the sspca had already supposedly 'checked' . Perhaps it was also the fact that neighbouring people had also phoned in.
 
Hard to follow through - How can anyone actually be sure these horses are not being cared for.

SPCA here told me once of a case that they were asked to follow up on as - the horses were never fed,no one ever came to see them etc.

When they researched the case the owner worked nights and fed his horses on the way too work at midnight - they were fed daily and checked twice a day but at times when no-one else was around to see.
 
Tnavas said:
Hard to follow through - How can anyone actually be sure these horses are not being cared for.

SPCA here told me once of a case that they were asked to follow up on as - the horses were never fed,no one ever came to see them etc.

When they researched the case the owner worked nights and fed his horses on the way too work at midnight - they were fed daily and checked twice a day but at times when no-one else was around to see.
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Glad im not the only one that thinks this.
I recently had a visit from officialdom because a 2yo had a couple of burrs in its mane somebody had reported that for neglect LOL

What gets me is the OP is just posting this on hearsay!!!!
 
Popsdosh I am not posting on hearsay at all, my husband has seen these horses for himself and they are in poor condition and a friend of mine has been out to see them as she knows the person who is feeding them. There is no question at all in this case that these horses are being neglected by the owner. They are standing in mud with swollen legs and have no hay or water without that supplied by this other person.
 
horsemadmum1 said:
Popsdosh I am not posting on hearsay at all, my husband has seen these horses for himself and they are in poor condition and a friend of mine has been out to see them as she knows the person who is feeding them. There is no question at all in this case that these horses are being neglected by the owner. They are standing in mud with swollen legs and have no hay or water without that supplied by this other person.
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Well get the person to stop feeding them and the authorities will then do something.
The caveat being if the land belongs to the person feeding them. As they would then have a duty of care to the horses whether theirs or not.
 
The land belongs to a farmer. I have already stated that she needs to stop feeding them. Presumably also to stop bringing them water. And to leave them caught in the fence when they are trying to get to the next door field. Etc.
 
Somebody needs to talk to the farmer as well as certainly under English law he is as liable as the owner on welfare issues and has a duty of care to the horses maybe he can sort things. As crazy as it sounds if horses get dumped on my land the law states I have to look after them!
 
The land belongs to a farmer and he has other livestock the local EHO may be interested and can do an inspection especially if they are not receiving treatment for mud fever and their feet are over grown.
This of one of the occasions when FB may be a good idea. Get some good photos and post them and just ask who they belong to? Then you would also have photos to say, hang on shouldn't these ponies be seen to.
The RSPCA are only interested in prosecution not prevention and do not seem to be able to negotiate with people which I think in a lot of cases would be more productive.
I am not saying these animals are not neglected but remember this time of year a lot of animals are standing in mud and even if you feed them unless its a round bale the evidence will be gone in an hour or so. People do not leave hay in or by fields because it gets stolen. I have had this happen to me.
https://www.facebook.com/hopeforhor...5018828693901/316069808588802/?type=3&theatre The man that runs this page has had a lot of experience with negotiating with landowners.
 
If the horses are receiving enough feed and water to survive there's little the big guns can do .
The BHS welfare so officers often used to be the deployed to mediate and try to resolve issues like this but it's a long time since I was involved with welfare stuff I don't know what they are up to now .
It's really up to the land owner to resolve this and the BHS used to to lots of work when I was involved in cases like this trying to nudge solutions out of people .
Of course OP has not seen these horses so who knows what's really going on .
 
No I haven't as other people are involved and are in talks with the SSPCA. I think the SSPCA are limited in what they can do prevention wise too. I once had a horse at livery and it was ill and the owner pretty much left me to look after it and the SSPCA told me she would have to not show up for 24 hours or more, then they could act. The horse had acute laminitis and was on box rest and needed looking after but as it was on my place it fell to me. I am thinking the farmer really ought to be taking the responsibility here! The person feeding them keeps her own horses at the same place i believe hence she is there frequently and couldn't stand seeing them in their poor state but I can see as long as she is looking after them there is not much anyone can do. And Goldenstar although I have not seen them my husband has and he is not in any way sentimental so if he says they are in a poor state then they will be. I think I will take a run out that way and see for myself.
 
Certainly we I was involved the BHS and WHW officers would spend time on exactly these types of cases .
Very often they would do a nice cop not so nice cop job with the RSPCA ( I live in England )to try to resolve things but that's really down to how well the individuals in an area work together .
It's certainly down to the farmer to resolve it and that's where the pressure would have been exerted when I was involved .
Sadly very often when you look into it the owner is a serial offender owes the the landowner a fortune has gone from yard to yard doing this .
I'll not post what think about people like this because I'll get into trouble .
 
Goldenstar the owner owes money to other people, i know more details but don't want to reveal any more on here, suffice to say he is a serial offender re money. i should have said earlier that the horses in question are finely bred and have no shelter either. The woman is afraid he will simply remove them if he gets too much hassle but there are quite a few and he would need transport and somewhere to put them which might not be easy.
 
horsemadmum1 said:
Goldenstar the owner owes money to other people, i know more details but don't want to reveal any more on here, suffice to say he is a serial offender re money. i should have said earlier that the horses in question are finely bred and have no shelter either. The woman is afraid he will simply remove them if he gets too much hassle but there are quite a few and he would need transport and somewhere to put them which might not be easy.
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I afraid these 'serial offenders ' know exactly what they can get away with they are very very difficult to deal with .
The farmers sadly just needs to get rid and be much much more careful about who they deal with in the future .
I am afraid my inability to put these types of poor horses out of my mind was what ended me doing that type of work because the likely hood is there's not a happy ending for them .
 
are Hillside the one with a gazillion animals on limited land? or am I thinking of somewhere else? and why would anyone rescue two cows from Ireland and bring them to England while they are begging for hay donations?
 
I wouldn't bother with Hillside either. I would keep pestering the SSPCA. As far as I know, they have powers to enter and seize. And subsequently prosecute.
 
honetpot said:
The RSPCA are only interested in prosecution not prevention and do not seem to be able to negotiate with people which I think in a lot of cases would be more productive
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Rspca officers investigated 159,831 complaints of cruelty or neglect during 2014 and secured 2,419 convictions through prosecution, approx. 1.5%.

Advice and guidance would have been issued to those that did not warrant prosecution, but no doubt, many were issued with a warning. The owner's legal responsibility to their animal(s) is likely to have been discussed as too would the consequences of not complying with the law.

Where financial assistance regarding vet treatment and/or help with spaying/neutering of pets would improve the situation, owner's may be offered it, where available, as too could assistance in reducing the number of animals through rehoming centres.

I think the numbers above speak for themselves.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
are Hillside the one with a gazillion animals on limited land? or am I thinking of somewhere else? and why would anyone rescue two cows from Ireland and bring them to England while they are begging for hay donations?
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Yep, you got the right people. A way to describe them would be 'hoarders'.
 
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