A man who left two very underweight cobs to suffer in a field in South East London has been banned from keeping animals for five years and given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
As well as being emaciated with a body condition score of 0.5, one of the mares needed to have her right eye removed because it was so badly infected that it had caused Phthisis bulbi, which means it had permanently lost its vision. She was also suffering from rainscald.
Both cobs had lice infestations to their coat and had worms. The second horse’s body condition score was 1.5.
Their owner, 34-year-old Alfie Doyle from Nettlestead, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 after a prosecution by the RSPCA.
He appeared for sentencing at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on February 17 and was also told to attend 10 Rehabilitation Activity Days and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard that the body of a piebald foal in very poor condition was found in the same field on March 1 last year.
Eleven days later, RSPCA Inspector Harriet Daliday went to the location after World Horse Welfare had visited and issued an alert when a piebald cob mare was seen grazing in the same field with an eye infection.
“Both these cobs suffered terribly left in this field without care and attention,” she said. “Owning an animal is a privilege and ensuring appropriate veterinary care when they need it is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them.”
‘Failure to provide adequate care’
The police and a vet were in attendance and the three-year-old cob and another piebald mare, aged seven, were removed from the field.
“Neither of the equines were microchipped and the field they were in was said to be grazed by multiple horses owned by several people,” said a statement from the RSPCA.
“The defendant later admitted being the owner of the seized cobs and he agreed to sign them over to the RSPCA.”
The attending vet concluded that both horses had been suffering for several weeks, due to the defendant’s “failure to provide adequate preventative veterinary care and then address the clinical needs of the equines once they became sick”.
The court heard how Doyle had taken the horses on from a friend and accepted that he hadn’t done enough to look after them. He was also told to pay £400 court costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
The statement confirmed that after being removed from the field, both cobs were cared for by World Horse Welfare, where they put on weight and returned to good health. One of the equines has since been rehomed by the charity.
Images © RSPCA
