Court told how horses suffered (From Daily Echo)

Court told how horses suffered

11:35am Thursday 6th March 2008 in

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A HAMPSHIRE teenager accused of causing unnecessary suffering to animals has described in court how her horses started dying "left, right and centre"

from a severe infection.

Michelle Green, 19, said the devastating outbreak began in December 2006, when four horses died and another two collapsed.

Her horses and ponies continued to collapse at an alarming rate over the following few days, she told New Forest magistrates.

"They were there one minute and down the next," she said.

The RSPCA claims the "appalling" conditions in which the animals were kept contributed to the severity of the outbreak.

Jeremy Cave, prosecuting, has alleged the horses were found standing or lying in mud and their own excrement.

Green, of Lime Kiln Lane, Holbury, was interviewed by an RSPCA inspector after the organisation was called in.

She admitted the animals' field in West Wellow was extremely muddy and not a suitable place to keep animals, but said she had nowhere else to put them, the court heard.

Asked if the horses had a good quality of life she told the inspector: "Yes. They are cared for and loved."

In courtMr Cave accused her of keeping too many animals on the land. He added: "You were not in a position to cope with a significant illness that affected your herd." Green replied: "Yes I was."

The defendant also dismissed suggestions the animals had been left to suffer. "They had shelters they could have gone to and hay at both ends of the field."

The court also heard from an expert witness, vet Madeleine Forsyth, who studied data gathered after the deaths.

She said: "The horses were killed by an extremely infectious bacteria. There was no disease associated with the wetness and muddiness of the environment. It seems the defendants rang the vet as soon as it was apparent he was needed."

Green and her mother, Debra Green, 41, also of Lime Kiln Lane, deny causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

Proceeding