Is this animal cruelty?

zaksmum

Need some opinions...we have today returned from a week's stay at a large holiday park for a week and in a small field outside the park, two horses were chained up. Their chains were short (about 3 - 4ft) and rusty. The horses could move around only with difficulty as their chains kept getting in their way and pulling their heads down.

They had an upturned milk crate near each of them. All the grass around them was cropped close where they'd eaten it and they had no way of reaching the longer grass nearby as it was just out of range of their chains, though they were straining to reach it.

In the entire week, I never saw them move from this field, which was unfenced and close to a main road - probably the chains were a cheaper option than a fence. They may have been taken in somewhere at night but I never saw this - certainly when we passed the field as late as 11pm they were still there, still chained up.

I feel I should contact the RSPCA as it looks like animal cruelty to me. Am I right or am I over reacting?

Money_maker

Report. Rather to be wrong than ignoring something like this. Did they have water?

jrtfan

Somebody posted about a similar issue with horses left in a field, a few months ago now. This is the thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5360198

If memory serves, the OP received a lot of helpful replies and advice, including contact details for organisations other than the RSPCA which specialise in rescuing and caring for horses (and, I think, coming out to assess the conditions in which they're living - not 100% on that, though).



I rang the RSPCA once to tell them I was concerned about a horse which had been left tied-up in the middle of a grassy roundabout without any obvious signs of being given food and water, during the hottest weeks of summer. They said that some horses were very hardy - such as Cobs, for example - and could withstand harsher conditions than, say, a Thoroughbred. I never did establish whether or not they went out to check on this horse.

owlet

I've also heard reports that the RSPCA are not very helpful.
If it were me, I'd report them - it sounds like cruelty to me but even you were wrong, it's better to report than find out later that they had died or something.
Even if they were fed and watered, the chains sound very short & they should be able to move around some. Go with what your concience is telling you.

zaksmum

Money maker, I couldn't see any water. The upturned crates had holes in them, for the bottles they were designed to hold, so obviously wouldn't contain water. The weather was very warm, too.

Jrtfan, thanks for the link, I'll have a look at that.

Owlet, I think I will report the issue. Thanks

ripplyuk

Contact World Horse Welfare or Redwings horse sanctuary. 4ft chains are not acceptable, and a lack of water is an immediate risk. Don't wait OP.

Cheeky_Monkey

I think you are doing absolutely the right thing in reporting it OP.

Please let us know how you get on :beer:

teddysmum

A couple of years ago, some people who were horse savvy,reported a group of horses, which was not being well treated(lack of food, boggy ground, overgrown hooves, no water trough in reach etc),to the RSPCA, even offering a good home if needed.


The RSPCA just left a note for the owner, who simply moved them away.They were never seen again, so goodness knows what their fate was.

jrtfan

There was an episode of Countryfile back in mid-January - don't know if anyone else watched it - which had a report about the crisis of abandoned horses in the UK. I think the RSPCA as well as local Councils are often struggling to cope with the sheer number of horses found abandoned or living in unsuitable conditions, it's so sad. And then, there are those horses being moved on during the night, as you've just mentioned. The same thing happened with a small group of horses we noticed grazing in a field near here, a couple had evidence of chronic diaorrhea but they vanished overnight after the RSPCA came out to look at them.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/countryfile-abandoned-horse-crisis-fly-grazing-524071

teddysmum

jrtfan wrote: »

There was an episode of Countryfile back in mid-January - don't know if anyone else watched it - which had a report about the crisis of abandoned horses in the UK. I think the RSPCA as well as local Councils are often struggling to cope with the sheer number of horses found abandoned or living in unsuitable conditions, it's so sad. And then, there are those horses being moved on during the night, as you've just mentioned. The same thing happened with a small group of horses we noticed grazing in a field near here, a couple had evidence of chronic diaorrhea but they vanished overnight after the RSPCA came out to look at them.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/countryfile-abandoned-horse-crisis-fly-grazing-524071

The problem always has been that the RSPCA gives possible offenders warning of inspection, so giving them time to remove the evidence.


This happened with the case of a rescue with unethical/cruel practices .Despite complaints from well informed dog people, who saw things first hand ,warning was given and dead, ill and abused dogs were not at the premises when they were visited.

zaksmum

I have reported it now to BHS, a horse welfare organisation.

Hopefully they will do something to help the chained up horses.