Public help needed to avoid repeat of pony cruelty (From Daily Echo)

Public help needed to avoid repeat of pony cruelty

9:17am Saturday 8th March 2008 in

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COME forward and prevent more animals fromo dying needlessly.

That is the plea from animal welfare experts who investigated a horrific cruelty case in Hampshire that saw horses and ponies left for dead.

The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) wants people to ring its special hotline if they come across cases of illtreatment.

The ILPH was one of the organisations involved in the prosecution of two women who kept nearly 40 horses and ponies in a field.

Magistrates heard that 17 had to be shot for humanitarian reasons while another 12 had already died.

Debra Green, 41, and her daughter Michelle, 19, both of Lime Kiln Lane, Holbury, were this week convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

Disturbing images of horses standing or lying in liquid mud and slurry were produced during their four-day trial at New Forest Magistrates' Court.

ILPH field officer Dave Guy told the Daily Echo: "We had a call from someone who was concerned about the number of horses and ponies on the site and the conditions in which they were living.

"I didn't see any horses in distress but was concerned about the mud and left a card."

Mr Guy said he returned to the field in Scallows Lane, West Wellow, a few months later after the Greens failed to make contact.

"Some of the mud had been removed and the horses appeared to be in pretty good condition," he said. "Later I got a call from the RSPCA saying the situation had deteriorated."

The ILPH is urging the public to report any other incidents of neglect.

Mr Guy added: "We investigate every suspected case of cruelty or neglect and assess it with our own eyes. If someone sees something suspicious they should tell us.

"The last thing we want is another situation like the one that developed at West Wellow."

Debra Green and her daughter each denied four offences of causing unnecessary cruelty to animals but were found guilty.

The charges related to two ponies, Alfie and Filly, who were found lying in a sea of mud and had to be destroyed.

The ILPH hotline number is 08000 480180.

Click the links below to see previous stories, including those from the court case.