Why was this horse put down?

Uname said:
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.
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If you are talking about naïve you should be looking at yourself. The Equine charities are already stretched to the limit with welfare cases. You can't glibly say that they would take in this case along with the possibility that it would need very extensive and expensive vet care with no guarantee that the horse can be saved. Grow up, girly.

And if you can't trust a vet to have an animals best interests at heart who can you trust?
 
Moomin1 said:
To be honest, if the horse had a mere flesh wound, and was pts, then it's still nobody else's business.
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Moomin I think you have totally misunderstood the entire point of the original question - why was this horse put down?
The question did not ask whether anyone felt it was morally or legally right or wrong.
The article was reported in print and by virtue of that did become everybody's business.
I think the OP asked a genuinely interesting question which should have and partly did, lead to an interesting discussion on the treatment and fate of an injured horse in the absence of the owner and the interpretation of a very sketchy report.
Sadly, this quickly degenerated into the usual bunch of accusations of being in the fluffy bunny camp or not, which always seems to happen on here.
 
to those who have never seen the sort of knife that "that sort" like to play with here is a picture:
images

do you realy think that something like that wont do damage to the internal organs of just about anything! They were originaly designed as hunting knives!
 
conniegirl said:
to those who have never seen the sort of knife that "that sort" like to play with here is a picture:
images

do you realy think that something like that wont do damage to the internal organs of just about anything! They were originaly designed as hunting knives!
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Oh I'm sorry but ^^^ you have absolutely NO knowledge that this was the type of knife used. Total and utter speculation! It could just as easily have been a penknife for goodness sake.
 
I dont KNOW but I can make an educated guess given the size of some of those entry wounds (perticularly the one in the rib area) and the type of person likely to have committed this attrocity.
My OH makes and sells knives, at events you get very good at watching certain types of people that are inclined to half inch certain types of knives if they have half a chance and believe me it isnt the pen knife sized ones they take.
 
I remember many years ago my lovely mare broke her leg at a show. She was being a tart about going back on the float, she reared and sat down, nothing violent but I heard a small click, and she could not stand up again.

The vet was called, it was Sunday and a young vet arrived, from the equine practise, and diagnosed a broken Femur. I will admit I was horrible, she was not long qualified and I would not accept her decision, I demanded a second opinion.

She was right though, the leg was broken and she was PTS. I was devastated, I'd also lost my cat that morning, I'd removed him from the road as I was leaving.

I think for a newspaper report the information was sufficient. We don't need to know the gory details. No doubt if we were there we'd ask for a more indepth report.
 
I think it's all very well to say that the charities should 'rescue' an individual horse in order to highlight its plight and raise awareness. In the part of the country where I live the awareness is already pretty high, there are estates in nearby towns that are overrun with tethered and fly grazed ponies, they are a common sight, so I'm not sure how taking one in will change the view of anyone.

I donate to equine charities and personally prefer to see them working hard to improve conditions for ponies by tackling the larger issues of fly grazing, indiscriminate breeding etc. Spending vast amounts on a pony that will sadly probably never amount to much, even if it could have been saved is a false economy.

I'd also suggest that anyone who thinks a charity can take on a horse, even temporarily, just tries ringing round them all and see how successful they are. It is by hanging on to horses that we can't afford to keep that has created many of the issues we are now seeing. Unless you as an individual can pay and care for the horse, then it is unfair to expect anyone else to when they are full to bursting.

It is incredibly sad for the individual ponies, but until we reach a point where horses aren't ten a penny and owners are required to be responsible for them then we need to reduce numbers drastically. They can't all be saved, it just isn't physically possible.
 
OWLIE185 said:
Why was this horse put down?
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news...9-2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
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Ok I've not read all your replies but having seen recently that the rspca alone rescued around 800 horses I think in 2013 with that figure set to be even more this year they cannot simply keep paying out for all these horses. So as most charities are full if say the rspca were too, which considering they only have spaces for 125 I think that's a fair bet! Aside from the injuries where should this horses go. Then ontop of that you have the injuries which a vet assessed and a vet made the choice...
 
touchstone said:
I'd also suggest that anyone who thinks a charity can take on a horse, even temporarily, just tries ringing round them all and see how successful they are. It is by hanging on to horses that we can't afford to keep that has created many of the issues we are now seeing. Unless you as an individual can pay and care for the horse, then it is unfair to expect anyone else to when they are full to bursting.
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I completely agree with every word of this . . . and, as others have said, there are far worse fates than being humanely euthanised . . .

P
 
Uname said:
Horses and indeed all animals should be treated with the same care and respect as humans...
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I want to live in a world where humans have the same right to a good death as animals. I should hate to live in a world where animals are treated the way we treat humans - with no regard for welfare, but only a blind obligation to maintain "life" in the vaguest sense of the word at all costs.

It's nobody's business but the vet and the owner / welfare organisation who would have had to take it on.
 
JFTD said:
I want to live in a world where humans have the same right to a good death as animals. I should hate to live in a world where animals are treated the way we treat humans - with no regard for welfare, but only a blind obligation to maintain "life" in the vaguest sense of the word at all costs.

It's nobody's business but the vet and the owner / welfare organisation who would have had to take it on.
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This. I agree completely.
 
What I find a little curious is why this question was asked it is clear that for what ever reason the pony was not in a position to be saved whether that was a medical or financial reason it is irrelevant What is far more important is that people in that area were made aware of a possible risk to their horses, and that if anyone could throw a light on who was guilty of this horrendous crime, they may be made to come forward with the information and see the low life/ves caught and punished although that is probably a vain hope. My question wouldn't have been why was it put to sleep but what is being done to catch the perpetrator and how to prevent a repeat performance. With too many horses and too few good owners PTS is always going to be the best option for many or these animals injured or not
Having spent some time with the sick and elderly who suffer greatly I am with those who would like the same access to euthanasia for humans as I personally would far prefer a dignified death than to suffer pain and ignominy at the hands of those that wish to preserve life at all costs
 
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JFTD said:
I want to live in a world where humans have the same right to a good death as animals. I should hate to live in a world where animals are treated the way we treat humans - with no regard for welfare, but only a blind obligation to maintain "life" in the vaguest sense of the word at all costs.

It's nobody's business but the vet and the owner / welfare organisation who would have had to take it on.
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This ... We treat humans appallingly
 
JFTD said:
I want to live in a world where humans have the same right to a good death as animals. I should hate to live in a world where animals are treated the way we treat humans - with no regard for welfare, but only a blind obligation to maintain "life" in the vaguest sense of the word at all costs.

It's nobody's business but the vet and the owner / welfare organisation who would have had to take it on.
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I'm pushing the Like button as hard as I can, but nothing seems to be happening.
 
JFTD said:
I want to live in a world where humans have the same right to a good death as animals. I should hate to live in a world where animals are treated the way we treat humans - with no regard for welfare, but only a blind obligation to maintain "life" in the vaguest sense of the word at all costs.
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I couldn't agree more. I lost my dear old mum last year. She had a long and happy life, but was very ill towards the end. She told me and the rest of the family that she just wanted to die - if she could have afforded the "Swiss clinic" she probably would have gone there. She died in hospital having suffered much indignity for the previous month - all she wanted was a peaceful end in her own home. We provide that for our animals, it's inhumane that we make humans suffer right til the bitter end.
 
I agree. I cannot believe we don't allow humans to be PTS. It is just awful what some have to endure. I find it hard to believe that nothing is being done about it even though it seems there would likely be a majority in favour of elective euthanasia.
 
We need to have a frank and open discussion regarding human euthanasia.
Anyone heard of the Liverpool care pathway?
 
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