h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It must be somewhere between 10 and 15 years since my brother moved to this barn-conversion. It's got a bit of land with it. Upto a few months ago a farmer used Bill's 10 acre field for his sheep, for free. But then they had a falling-out - it wasn't enough that he got to graze his sheep for free for over a decade, he also wanted Bill to pay for the water for his sheep. So anyway, the man removed his sheep and Bill rented the field to some nice ladies for their horses (5 horses I think), which they came and took care of daily - feeding, poo-picking, visits from the farrier, vet etc. Bill recently semi-retired and thought it was about time he started thinking about alternative sources income. Those nice ladies left and he advertised the field to rent.

A woman turned up with 25 Welsh ponies, saying Bill's field was absolutely ideal for them. Bill knows nothing about horses or ponies and just assumed that people must love their horses the way we love our dogs - and would know how many could be sustainably kept on so many acres and wouldn't lie about it. This turned out not to be the case though. The woman simply dumped the ponies and hasn't lifted a finger to look after them since. They were thin and hungry, some have hooves that have grown into long, curled "slippers". There are about 9 stallions amongst them - all in-breeding with their mums, grandmas, sisters, daughters etc - all fighting over the mares and fillies, gashing each other and the mares with their lethal hooves. A new foal was born two or three weeks ago. While Bill was walking through the field with a neighbour (a lady who's kept Welsh ponies herself) a few days ago, one of the fillies aborted. According to the lady, this was probably because she was far too young to be shut in with stallions - too young to breed.

Once the grass had been eaten, the ponies started battering down the fences, braving the electric boundary, to get out and get to food. They galloped down the roads and through the woods - a hazard to people, traffic and themselves. Some brave folk from the next village spent from about 8pm to 11pm chasing the last lot through the streets, borrowed halters to take them to a field where a lady agreed to accommodate them for the night, then led them back along the road from that village to this, the following day. That couple don't know anything about horses except that they kick and bite and can do you a grievous injury if you're not careful. The lady who accommodated them with her own horses, was horrified by the state they were in and concerned that her healthy horses might catch some disease or worms from the ponies. I texted the awful brute who owns them, to tell her what had happened and all she said was that she resented the implication that her ponies might be diseased. Not one glimmer of gratitude for the people who rounded them up and secured them, or the lady who risked the health of her own horses to take care of them for the night. In fact, the lady contacted the loathsome owner on facebook to enquire about the escaped ponies, after they'd been returned to Bill's field, and the owner threatened the lady with the police, believing she was trying to steal them.

Bill demanded that she come and feed them, poo-pick, separate the stallions from the females, call in a farrier to trim the long hooves, get a vet to treat their gashes, worm them and so on. She said she would come over and fence off the stallions, then she was going to get a vet to castrate the stallions, then she was going to come over with "her" farrier. None of these things happened. Each time she and the farrier or vet were supposed to come, they either didn't turn up or she phoned with some lame excuse.

The RSPCA lady was angry - but apparently impotent. She couldn't do anything until the horses fell over and couldn't get up again, so she advised Bill not to do anything to help them. Of course, once they were in a sufficiently poor condition to fall over, the RSPCA could prosecute - but then the RSPCA would have to put them out of their misery, because they wouldn't have the resources to accommodate and take care of them.

Horses have to have passports and chips now. That's the law. So Bill's demanded to see the passports. The woman hasn't responded to that demand. So he contacted DEFRA ask whether they kept a database of horse and pony owners and passports etc. No. Apparently all sorts of people/organisations can issue passports and you can't find out anything. He asked what DEFRA do when horses don't have passports or chips. Nothing. They told him to contact Trading Standards. Why Trading Standards? (forget logic) - So Trading Standards told him to contact the police. He got an automatic reply from them.

He's feeding the ponies and picking the poo himself. They were going to be up to their knees in sh*t if he didn't and starving too. It's a full-time and expensive business. No wonder the pointless parasitic owner doesn't want to do the work that's required to keep the animals healthy. Apparently, she's been playing this game for about 15 years, according to a local horse charity that were trying to discover where she moved them when she left the field of her last victim.

To me, it just seems unbelievable that she can keep getting away with it - but the RSPCA lady told us that this situation is replicated all over the country. DEFRA hasn't the will to enforce the law on passports and chips. Extraordinary!

Riverside County, CA, the basic law for keeping a horse is a minimum of five continuous acres of land, on which one can also maintain a human habitation, besides facilities needed by the horses, and a breeding pair of horses, so long as they remain healthy and well groomed.

If I were in your brother's situation, I think I would consider filing a lien on the horses and selling them off to cover expenses.

This kind of neglect has been seen before and it seems that the RSPCA is impotent when it comes to doing anything. I cannot understand why such neglect is not prosecuted when it is so clear, and before the animals get really ill.

Apparently in this double dip recession hundreds of horse owners are trying to get rid of the expense and responsibility, but that goes beyond the pale.

I would suggest contacting local MP but they are on their holidays now so I doubt there would be any joy there. A fuss in local newspapers might have some impact, after all we are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers

Websailor

The poor creatures.

Over here it's either misdemeanor or felony animal neglect or abuse, depending on severity and intention. It is terrible that this isn't illegal in your jurisdiction.

Waiting till the horses fall over and can't get up is going to be too late.

Is there anyway your brother can somehow go public with it, make a stink in the news and shame her into either caring for her animals or selling them off before their condition deteriorates further?

It sounds as though the US laws are far better for horses than the UK laws. The RSPCA advised Bill to use a trespass notice, then an abandonment notice. He posted an abandonment notice on the gates of the field, giving 14 days for the horses to be claimed before he became responsible for them and could sell them. The law is that if the owner doesn't respond to the warning, the land owner can take them for auction and MUST get the best price s/he can for them. Then s/he can keep just enough of the proceeds to cover the cost of transporting the horses to the auction and selling them, and the rest must be given to the horse owner. The land owner can't keep the money s/he may have spent taking care of the horses, repairing the damage caused by the horses etc. These ponies aren't in a good condition. The only people likely to want to buy them will slaughter them for meat. The nearest auction site is a long way away and it would cost more to transport them than they make, so the chances of the rotten owner getting anything back are slim. They're lovely little horses. Even though Bill doesn't want them in his field, he wants them to go to good homes. He could possibly shame her into taking them away - disappearing them onto some other poor sap's field, but really, it would be good to get the poor animals out of her evil clutches. If only there's a way to do that legally.

When your brother becomes responsible for them, is he legally obliged to sell them?

I am sorry that I am not envisioning a 'happy ending' here but once he becomes responsible for them is that the only option?

>>> The RSPCA advised Bill to use a trespass notice, then an abandonment notice. He posted an abandonment notice on the gates of the field, giving 14 days for the horses to be claimed before he became responsible for them and could sell them.

He can sell them but must he? Sometimes there are rescue societies that can rehabilitate the poor things. In particular, their hooves being badly neglected are causing their weight to fall wrong on their joints.

Are these guys any help:
http://www.redwings.org.uk/

Happy Nerd that's a god link but I suspect they are overloaded with unwanted animals already according to news reports, but it would be worth a try Tib, with nothing to lose.

Keep us posted.

Websailor