Why was this horse put down?

[ChesnutsRoasting]

If you mean travellers and gypsies then quite possibly . . . however, I keep my lovely horse on a private yard owned by travellers and can absolutely attest that their horses are beautifully cared for and want for nothing. Let's not jump to conclusions and tar all people by one brush, eh?

P

Not jumping & certainly not tarring but suspecting - wrongly or rightly.

 

[Uname]

I think the authorities should have spent thousands of pounds to perform surgery on this unfortunate gypsy pony which probably has other veterinary needs such as lice, worms etc and then when it's fixed (if it did survive the surgery that is) it can go and take up room looking for a new home which could possibly take years. (sarcasm).

I don't see the problem. A vet made a professional decision on a horse whose owners would probably be untraceable who had 5 serious injuries. Was this thread made just to wind people up?

No, of course you (and many other shallow, caustic half-wits on this forum) wouldn't see the problem.

 

[cobgoblin]

Both horses are dead and no longer in pain, one not looked after very well and no doubt was a revenge attack and the other doing a job he was bred for and did it well and well looked after, Why Cobgoblin would want to be there and demand an explanation why PTS beggars believe. This is what gets my goat, one had nasty stab wounds and the other shattered a leg and people are saying why PTS. Cloud Cuckoo Land not everything can be fixed.

I didn't say I wanted to be there at all. It's just amazing how everything gets twisted on here!
If you think about it, if I had been there then I would probably have been involved in the finding of the horse, In which case I don't think it's unreasonable that I would have found out the severity of his wounds and why the decision to PTS was made.
Just for clarity, as apparently everything has to be spelled out on here, I am not referring to the racehorse.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

No, of course you (and many other shallow, caustic half-wits on this forum) wouldn't see the problem.

welcome to the forum

 

[PolarSkye]

No, of course you (and many other shallow, caustic half-wits on this forum) wouldn't see the problem.

Blimey - quite an entrance!

P

 

[Uname]

Why was this horse put down?
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news...9-2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

I believe it should not have been put down if the injuries were not life threatening and could have been treated. I also believe that a better use of PR for the story would have been to generate awareness for the need to re-home the pony, should it have been required.

It appears the 'vet' made a financially motivated decision which had nothing to do with the value of the pony's life. Horses and indeed all animals should be treated with the same care and respect as humans, hence the pony should not have been put down unless there was no chance of recovery.

 

[Goldenstar]

I believe it should not have been put down if the injuries were not life threatening and could have been treated. I also believe that a better use of PR for the story would have been to generate awareness for the need to re-home the pony, should it have been required.

It appears the 'vet' made a financially motivated decision which had nothing to do with the value of the pony's life. Horses and indeed all animals should be treated with the same care and respect as humans - there is no difference in value, hence the pony should not have been put down unless there was no chance of recovery.

There is no evidence that what you say is the case .

 

[hairycob]

Surely there would have been far more to be earned by the vet in trying to save the pony than in pts.

 

[Uname]

welcome to the forum

Thanks

 

[Uname]

Surely there would have been far more to be earned by the vet in trying to save the pony than in pts.

I think because it would also involve a lot of time and perhaps 'bother', if they didn't really care for the animal as an owner would.

 

[Uname]

as an owner would.

*A good owner, that is.

 

[PolarSkye]

I believe it should not have been put down if the injuries were not life threatening and could have been treated. I also believe that a better use of PR for the story would have been to generate awareness for the need to re-home the pony, should it have been required.

It appears the 'vet' made a financially motivated decision which had nothing to do with the value of the pony's life. Horses and indeed all animals should be treated with the same care and respect as humans, hence the pony should not have been put down unless there was no chance of recovery.

And how do you know that the "vet" didn't make a determination that the injuries WERE life threatening?

P

 

[Uname]

There is no evidence that what you say is the case .

No there isn't, which is why I say it hypothetically. But as others have mentioned, horses are put down for far less which is why I think it more plausible the decision was financially motivated. Plus the time and effort to rehome if required and the provision of long-term care.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I give up. If any of you are vets who saw the animal at first hand, knew its vital signs & its injuries in full, feel free to let me know.

 

[Uname]

And how do you know that the "vet" didn't make a determination that the injuries WERE life threatening?

P

True, but I'd have thought it difficult to ascertain by the roadside. It wasn't given a chance.

 

[Princess Rosie]

The OP has asked a question which is fair, in a perfect world every horse would be looked after and no horse would have to suffer injuries caused by a human being, however, we most certainly don't live in anything close to a perfect world and these dreadful things happen and we can't speculate as to why and the reasons that the vet decided to euthanise, in the current market horses are passing from hand to hand for pennies and there are a large amount of unwanted horses and I'm afraid to say a hell of a lot of horses from gypsy stock (I have a gypsy rescue myself). It is very sad and from a non clinical view of the pictures that were released it is easy to wonder why the wounds themselves justify euthanasia, perhaps we have not seen the full extent of the injuries clearly, perhaps the decision to euthanise was made for the cost of the treatment and the unlikely possibility of finding the owner in the gypsy community as obviously someone has to answer for the injuries.

RIP little man, if I had driven past (as I am local) I would have offered you a home if you could have been saved. x

 

[Lammy]

I believe it should not have been put down if the injuries were not life threatening and could have been treated. I also believe that a better use of PR for the story would have been to generate awareness for the need to re-home the pony, should it have been required.

It appears the 'vet' made a financially motivated decision which had nothing to do with the value of the pony's life. Horses and indeed all animals should be treated with the same care and respect as humans, hence the pony should not have been put down unless there was no chance of recovery.

Sorry but I don't see you in any of the pictures with your boat load of money offering the poor thing a home for life with you.
And throwing insults around never helps your argument seem mature, grow up.
Your problem shouldn't be with the vet and ending the suffering of the unfortunate pony, it should be with the thug who did the stabbing in the first place. Think you're fighting the wrong battle.

 

[PolarSkye]

I give up. If any of you are vets who saw the animal at first hand, knew its vital signs & its injuries in full, feel free to let me know.

Precisely.

RIP poor pony, but who are any of us to question the attending vets?

P

 

[PolarSkye]

True, but I'd have thought it difficult to ascertain by the roadside. It wasn't given a chance.

How do you know this? That's like saying that vets who attend race meetings aren't qualified to make decisions about horses injured on the track. And FWIW, vets take multiple factors into consideration when assessing a horse's outcome after injury . . . it's ultimately about quality of life/prognosis for recovery.

As far as I know you are not a vet and you weren't there. So I'm not sure how constructive you can really be in this instance.

P

 

[blitznbobs]

for those of you that think those wounds look tiny I'm going to tell you a story...

I am a human doctor who often works in A and E . About 4 years ago we had a young lad (about 18 ) walked in to the department with a tiny (about 4 mm across) wound on his abdomen.

12 hours later he was still alive (just) having had his chest cracked open, his heart and stomach sewn up and his spleen removed...

As the old medical saying goes... the way to a mans heart is thru his stomach - Straight up....

never judge an injury by what you can see on the surface

 

[Dave's Mam]

for those of you that think those wounds look tiny I'm going to tell you a story...

I am a human doctor who often works in A and E . About 4 years ago we had a young lad (about 18 ) walked in to the department with a tiny (about 4 mm across) wound on his abdomen.

12 hours later he was still alive (just) having had his chest cracked open, his heart and stomach sewn up and his spleen removed...

As the old medical saying goes... the way to a mans heart is thru his stomach - Straight up....

never judge an injury by what you can see on the surface

This.

 

[Spring Feather]

I think most people on this forum with even a modicum of injury experience know that looks can be deceiving. The OP asked why the horse was PTS. So the answer is, we don't know why specifically. I would certainly have found it interesting if the link had specified.

 

[Uname]

Sorry but I don't see you in any of the pictures with your boat load of money offering the poor thing a home for life with you.
And throwing insults around never helps your argument seem mature, grow up.
Your problem shouldn't be with the vet and ending the suffering of the unfortunate pony, it should be with the thug who did the stabbing in the first place. Think you're fighting the wrong battle.

There's plenty of charities that would have offered a temporary or indefinite home I'm sure, especially if PR was used to generate awareness.

I wasn't throwing insults; I was merely making an observation after reading some extremely rude comments.

My point is that it's naive to assume the vet had the pony's best interests at heart. Experts aren't always 'experts' justifiably.

 

[minesadouble]

I don't have a problem at all with this horse being put down. Especially as it appears it had been abandoned, as I agree there are fates far worse than death when it comes to low value equines without a dedicated owner.
However I can see both points of view as I cannot help but feel that did the horse have serious internal damage then this fact would have been released to the media. ' to prevent further suffering' covers a very wide range of bases!

 

[Uname]

Either way, as none of us know, it's a tragic story and we can only hope whoever did it is found and punished.

 

[Moomin1]

There's plenty of charities that would have offered a temporary or indefinite home I'm sure, especially if PR was used to generate awareness.

I wasn't throwing insults; I was merely making an observation after reading some extremely rude comments.

My point is that it's naive to assume the vet had the pony's best interests at heart. Experts aren't always 'experts' justifiably.

Have you any idea of the sheer scale of the problem rescue centres face to try and house, treat and rehome all of these horses? You clearly don't, because you appear to think that they should take on every single horse into their care, spend time and money on attempting to bring it back to some form of health, when it may be literally at death's door and suffering (as the vet in this case decided it was). Where do you think all this space and money comes from? There is an equine crisis in this country, and to take in every single horse they come across, be it healthy or with a 1% chance of survival, is not possible.

 

[Dave's Mam]

Have you any idea of the sheer scale of the problem rescue centres face to try and house, treat and rehome all of these horses? You clearly don't, because you appear to think that they should take on every single horse into their care, spend time and money on attempting to bring it back to some form of health, when it may be literally at death's door and suffering (as the vet in this case decided it was). Where do you think all this space and money comes from? There is an equine crisis in this country, and to take in every single horse they come across, be it healthy or with a 1% chance of survival, is not possible.

Could not agree more.

 

[YorksG]

At the other end of the scale, I know of a yearling who was subjected to colic surgery, when the attending vet gave it a 1% chance of survival, because the insurance company would not pay out if the proceedure was not carried out. I would much rather that we pts animals with painful and serious injuries and illness, than make them endure further suffering for our benefit. With regard to the general public knowing why, in this or any other case, it is none of our business.

 

[Apercrumbie]

I have a decent knowledge of anatomy, both human and equine and I would be amazed if those stab wounds hadn't punctured at least one organ. Many stab wounds don't bleed that much as most of the damage is internal. I would have been far more critical of the vet if they had chosen to keep the poor horse alive tbh.

Anyway OP - news articles don't tend to give detailed vet's reports, as we well know from the Wigmore Hall case. I think five stab wounds that were probably not superficial is a good enough reason to put a horse down.

Uname - suggesting that a vet is lazy and can't be bothered to save a horse's life is just insulting. I'm just gobsmacked that people are really questioning putting a horse with five stab wounds to sleep. This is all pure speculation.

 

[Moomin1]

To be honest, if the horse had a mere flesh wound, and was pts, then it's still nobody else's business.