Why was this horse put down?

Almost as barbaric as the racehorse that was shot after it's injuries. Who in the right mind would think to PTS horses who are suffering immense pain when they could try to nurture them back to health for their own gratification at great suffering to the horse?
 
Faracat said:
It says why.
Click to expand...

Actually it doesn't really.
Depends how deep the stab wounds were and what was punctured. The horse is still standing and doesn't appear to be bleeding profusely externally. Had this been a private horse in a field I would suspect a great deal more would have been done, but I see a certain organisation was involved.
Such a shame, looks a sweet soul.
 
cobgoblin said:
Actually it doesn't really.
Depends how deep the stab wounds were and what was punctured. The horse is still standing and doesn't appear to be bleeding profusely externally. Had this been a private horse in a field I would suspect a great deal more would have been done, but I see a certain organisation was involved.
Such a shame, looks a sweet soul.
Click to expand...

To prevent further suffering of an animal - is that not justified? Horses get put down for far less.

Horses do not need to be on the floor to be worthy of being put to sleep - I had one with a broken leg in several places who remained stood up.

ETA - not bleeding much externally counts for relatively little with stab wounds - he could have ruptured organs?
 
CG - So you don't believe that the Vet assessed the deepness and placement of the wounds and made a judgement based on what he/she found as to the horse's chance of recovery?
 
Last edited:
I would imagine it could be hard to tell what internal damage had occurred, a wound that looks quite innocuous could be lethal. I'd also think that they may have been unable to trace the owner, leaving the authorities to pick up the bill, and as hard as it is to face, they can't just spend thousands on an individual horse which would need livery etc as well as vet treatment. Not the wrong decision at all considering how the horse was being kept imo.
 
It was put down because the vet in attendance recommended it based on his/her professional assessment of the injuries. As was the horse shot after shattering a fore cannon (a non-survivable injury). Not everything can be fixed; not everything should be fixed. Sometimes it is more humane to euthanise.
 
I have not read the link but know the issue you are talking about.

The bet would have assess the horse.subs it could have survived with lots of lexical attention but if it was owned by an "organisation" then they probably didn't have the time or money.
The SMS issue could have accorded if privately owned. Some people aren't insured, you don't know of the horses had any other previous issues

Poor horse and horrible person that did it.
 
RunToEarth said:
To prevent further suffering of an animal - is that not justified? Horses get put down for far less.

Horses do not need to be on the floor to be worthy of being put to sleep - I had one with a broken leg in several places who remained stood up.

ETA - not bleeding much externally counts for relatively little with stab wounds - he could have ruptured organs?
Click to expand...

I don't think you read my post properly.
I did not discount the possibility of internal damage, but I would query whether this was so easy to ascertain at the roadside. Looking at the site of the stab wounds, of which only four are visible there is a possibility of puncture of the plura or peritoneum, but only if the stab wounds were deep enough. Had the article said that this was the case then it would have explained why the horse was put down.
 
About twenty five years ago my old pony was the victim of a attack by a troubled youth with a machete .
The pony was in a field where my parents live and had known the troubled youth since he was in a pushchair .
The wound to the quarter was a foot long and eight inches deep at it's deepest point three vets worked to save her and operated in the field where it happened .
There's was a lot of blood it was a shocking experience.
She did survive and lived a long time after but it was touch and go whether it was reasonable and her best interest to try to save her .
It's a decision really that has nothing to do with anyone except the vet and owner.
 
cobgoblin said:
I don't think you read my post properly.
I did not discount the possibility of internal damage, but I would query whether this was so easy to ascertain at the roadside. Looking at the site of the stab wounds, of which only four are visible there is a possibility of puncture of the plura or peritoneum, but only if the stab wounds were deep enough. Had the article said that this was the case then it would have explained why the horse was put down.
Click to expand...

So you seriously expect a detailed account of why the vet came to that decision? The vet made a decision based on their experience and expertise. It's not for you to demand to know why and how they came to that conclusion, and it's a little much to expect any more than what has already been said in the article to be published to the general public.
 
I'm sure some people might think that I'm the worst person for saying this, but where do you think the pony would have ended up had it been treated?

No doubt amongst the other thousands of unwanted horses and ponies looking for new homes. There could have been a far worse future ahead for him....
 
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?
 
Moomin1 said:
So you seriously expect a detailed account of why the vet came to that decision? The vet made a decision based on their experience and expertise. It's not for you to demand to know why and how they came to that conclusion, and it's a little much to expect any more than what has already been said in the article to be published to the general public.
Click to expand...

The question was 'why was this horse put down?' The article says it was to prevent further suffering, which is the universal answer and tells you nothing.Had I been there,then yes, I would have demanded to know how and why they came to that conclusion.
 
I can understand where your coming from Op, when I first saw the picture of the pony it didn't look 'bad'.

But a picture is just a second in time and you don't know what the actual extent of the injuries where. There would be no reason for the publisher to specify the details only the facts of the case.

Either way the horse is gone.
 
cobgoblin said:
The question was 'why was this horse put down?' The article says it was to prevent further suffering, which is the universal answer and tells you nothing.Had I been there,then yes, I would have demanded to know how and why they came to that conclusion.
Click to expand...

You could demand all you like. It really isn't your decision and there wouldn't have been anything you could have done about it in any case.

I'm not quite sure what your point is about it all. Are you suggesting somehow that the horse was wrongly pts?
 
muckypony said:
I'm sure some people might think that I'm the worst person for saying this, but where do you think the pony would have ended up had it been treated?

No doubt amongst the other thousands of unwanted horses and ponies looking for new homes. There could have been a far worse future ahead for him....
Click to expand...

This is very true and i totally agree. Yes it is awful what happened to the poor pony but pts is not the worst thing that could of been done given the circumstances
 
cobgoblin said:
The question was 'why was this horse put down?' The article says it was to prevent further suffering, which is the universal answer and tells you nothing.Had I been there,then yes, I would have demanded to know how and why they came to that conclusion.
Click to expand...

And they would have been perfectly within their rights not to tell you.
You can't tell anything from those photos I know my pony was extremely lucky her eight inch deep wound was contained within the muscles of her quarters and nothing vital was damaged, if I had decided to PTS on the day I would have been pretty pissed off if some random MOP had thought they had the right to demand answers.
There's any number of reasons that the vet might have taken this decision.
Perhaps the ponies situation played a part in the desision,who knows,the country is overwhelmed with poor quality stock with bad owners .
 
And who, "in their right mind", would put a horse through a great deal of pain and distress by trying to keep it alive in the teeth of the vet's advice to euthanize the poor thing. There is an old saying which is often used in human medicine when a patient is on death's doorstep with little that can be done - "Thou shalt not kill; but needst not strive, officiously, to keep alive"

Not the same thing but my 22 year old horse has a cataract and is nearly blind in one eye. The vet gave me the options: a)I could send him to the University Vet Hospital (50 miles away) for assessment, then bring him home and when the results came back I could return him to the hospital for an operation under general anaesthetic. or b) I could leave well alone and "keep an eye on it".

I thought long and hard and did my research and when the vet came to do a check up I told him I'd decided to take the latter course as I didn't think it was fair to subject my horse to all of that. He told me that that was the right decision and that horses can do perfectly well with only one eye.

Obviously it isn't safe to ride on the road but we have direct access to a very good bridleway and plenty of fields and manages to use on the yard.

However, when I mentioned this among other livery clients there were those (you know, all those unqualified "vets" who know better than vets who have trained for years) who said I was wicked and mean not to stump up for the operation (which I could afford to do) and several of them are not speaking to me. Do I care? I trust my vet and he and I know what is best for my horse, not people who are just on-lookers.

There are some very odd people about.
 
Z
Moomin1 said:
You could demand all you like. It really isn't your decision and there wouldn't have been anything you could have done about it in any case.

I'm not quite sure what your point is about it all. Are you suggesting somehow that the horse was wrongly pts?
Click to expand...

I am wondering how much effort was put into finding the owner and whether the decision to PTS was purely a medical decision, or rather based on the fact that it was probably a traveller's horse. There is also the question of the influence of the rspca, which I'm afraid I don't hold in very high regard.
 
cobgoblin said:
Z

I am wondering how much effort was put into finding the owner and whether the decision to PTS was purely a medical decision, or rather based on the fact that it was probably a traveller's horse. There is also the question of the influence of the rspca, which I'm afraid I don't hold in very high regard.
Click to expand...

is the owner likely to come forward if they're going to be faced with a huge vets bill?? i highly doubt it in this case
 
cobgoblin said:
Z

I am wondering how much effort was put into finding the owner and whether the decision to PTS was purely a medical decision, or rather based on the fact that it was probably a traveller's horse. There is also the question of the influence of the rspca, which I'm afraid I don't hold in very high regard.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am sure the vet couldn't be bothered doing any more for the horse, based on the fact that it may have been a traveller's horse. Perhaps you could find out who the vet was, and give them a call..'demand' a post mortem maybe?..
 
cobgoblin said:
I don't think you read my post properly.
I did not discount the possibility of internal damage, but I would query whether this was so easy to ascertain at the roadside. Looking at the site of the stab wounds, of which only four are visible there is a possibility of puncture of the plura or peritoneum, but only if the stab wounds were deep enough. Had the article said that this was the case then it would have explained why the horse was put down.
Click to expand...

An experienced vet surgeon would consider more than the external appearance of the horse and it's wounds. S/he would have some idea from the external position of the wounds what internal damage had been done and would base his/her prognosis on that and the horse's vital signs. As someone else has said, a horse in deep shock may show no visible signs of distress but heartbeat, blood pressure, temperature and other signals would help THE PROFESSIONAL to diagnose the horse's chances and a horse in deep shock stands little chance of surviving the journey to hospital let alone an operation to repair the damage.

In my 60 years with horses I have seen too many cruelly sentimental people put their horses through a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering due to their own selfishness. I love my horse dearly and I would do anything reasonable to save his life but when the vet says it's time I hope that I will have the strength of character to let him go .
 
OP I find your attitude to this story really bizarre , I just can't understand why anyone would think other than poor horse and reflect on the huge roll luck plays in horses lives .
How much time would you expect a vet/ police officer / officer from a welfare organisation to spend trying to find an owner when faced with a bleeding wounded horse at the side of the road .
 
Moomin1 said:
Yes, I am sure the vet couldn't be bothered doing any more for the horse, based on the fact that it may have been a traveller's horse. Perhaps you could find out who the vet was, and give them a call..'demand' a post mortem maybe?..
Click to expand...
And pay for it perhaps (sarcasm off)
 
Moomin1 said:
Yes, I am sure the vet couldn't be bothered doing any more for the horse, based on the fact that it may have been a traveller's horse. Perhaps you could find out who the vet was, and give them a call..'demand' a post mortem maybe?..
Click to expand...

I find it quite concerning how often I agree with Moomin lately. This thread is another instance.

I tire of trying to explain that there are many fates worse than death, particularly for that type of horse in the current economic climate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top