Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria

On the afternoon of Tuesday 27th March 2007, an anonymous report from a concerned local was made about a horse with an untreated injury to her right eye, poor body condition and foal at foot. PHHWV representatives Samantha Forrest and Kerryn Solomon had no idea what they were walking into, but when they arrived at the Kyneton property the smell beyond the gate let them know it was not good.

While walking up the long driveway they discovered the body of a dead mare, the carcass no more than a week old. Laying about ten meters from her was a dead foal, off to the left lay a further four more carcasses in a more advanced state of decomposition – all appeared to be younger horses. The “paddock of death” was the name given to this carnage.

Samantha and Kerryn left the paddock and proceeded to the east of the property towards the hay sheds. Rounding the corner they found three stallions locked up in yards, one yard no bigger than a stable. The other two stallions had a fraction more room to move and the shelter of the hay sheds. Despite having clean water, there was no evidence of feed and they were all standing in years of filth. The stallions were frightened; two had body condition scores of 0.5 and the other scored 0.75. There hooves were in appalling condition.

Samantha called RSPCA Inspector Mark Roberts from Bendigo and left a message for him to call urgently. At this time the mare with the injury to her eye appeared at the yards. She had a body condition score of 0.5 and had an ulceration of her right eye making her unable to see out of it.

Both PHHWV representatives, at the stage concerned for their own safety, proceeded out to the side paddock beyond the yards to find another seven horses. Two horses in this paddock had body condition scores of 1.5. The remainder had borderline body condition scores of 2.0. At the rear of the property they found another dead horse in a yard with its rug still on – this horse would have been dead no more than three weeks. Upon leaving the property they discovered yet another dead horse in the paddock next to “the paddock of death”, along with bones from at least one other horse.

With the death toll at 9 the aim was to ensure the remaining horses had water and wait for Inspector Roberts to call back, which he did within 10 minutes.

Samantha and Kerryn proceeded to check the paddock to the west of the property via the road and found yet another dead horse. Given the lateness of the day, and after discussions with Inspector Roberts, it was felt that as there were no horses down and in need of immediate assistance, the decision was made to return early the next day.

Samantha and Kerryn, along with two RSPCA Inspectors, met at the property early the next day. Paddock by paddock they inspected the 60 acre property as the death toll rose; with the final toll reaching 16. This included a foal that was stillborn in the early hours of that morning, and another stallion that had died some weeks prior in a yard beyond the stallions seen the previous night.

The task began to identify the horses “at risk” and in need of immediate veterinary attention. It was determined by an equine vet that 10 of the remaining 30 horses were in the high risk category. In the meantime, RSPCA made contact with the absent owner who agreed to come out to the property the next day.

Inspector Roberts and PHHWV representatives Samantha and Kerryn met with the owner the following morning. After significant negotiations taking the majority of the day the owner agreed to surrender 21 unhandled horses, mainly of Arab breeding, into PHHWV’s care. These included mares with foals at foot as well as some older colts, fillies, mares and stallions from the yards.

With the assistance of two local PHHWV members Jayne and Kate, all surrendered horses were moved into one paddock while the stallions remained in the yards. After detailed discussions with the vet, Inspector Roberts and the owner it was decided that the aged, poorly handled stallions would be euthanised later that afternoon, along with two older horses that were in their mid 20’s. They now lay at rest along with the other 16 found dead.

That afternoon all the remaining horses, including those not surrendered, were assessed and provided with feed and veterinary care. Later that evening at around 10pm one of the horses identified “at risk” with a foal at foot went down and was unable to rise to her feet. She had a body condition score of 0.5. It was decided she should be euthanised on humane grounds. As not to upset and stress her foal at such a late hour her body was covered.

Samantha and Kerryn returned the first thing the next morning to feed and check all the horses. All had survived the very cold and wet night.

The mare with the eye injury was yarded along with her foal and the vet was called. This mare had never had a halter on or been lead, but Kerryn was patient and managed to get her to the yard after gaining her trust – the foal following.

There was some concern about a young chestnut colt. Within two hours he went down and was unable to get back up. The vet arrived shortly after, and as the colt was still unable to rise it was decided to euthanise him for humane reasons. Both the colt and mare from the previous night are now at rest along side the others.

The mare with the eye injury was named “Emily” and given pain relief, however the prognosis was not good. She was in a great deal of pain and given her poor body condition would not survive the surgery needed to remove her eye. There was also concern for her young foal as Emily’s milk supply was poor. The decision was made to take them both into care, wean the foal, and then consider euthanising Emily.

On Saturday the real task began. Careful planning went into moving the surrendered horses, many of which were not fit enough to travel any great distance. Most of the horses were unhandled and the facilities on the property were not considered to be safe enough to use. Portable yards were organised and the plan was to truck them to emergency accommodation provided by trained and experienced PHHWV carers.

Owners of a neighboring property were approached and kindly agreed to the use of their cattle yards and ramp. The fence was cut and with the help of six PHHWV volunteers the horses were slowly moved across to the next paddock for the night.

The next morning a truck had been organised to transport Emily and the other foals. As Emily was just too weak to make the trip and unable to get on the truck she was euthanised and her foal went on the truck with the other foals.

Several older broodmares that were considered too dangerous to themselves and others were also euthanised.

On a happier note, one young colt since name “Oliver” was too weak to travel so had a quick lesson in leading and was walked a very short distance to a neighboring property, along with an aged pony that was surrendered. Oliver’s rescue will be touch and go but so far it looks good. He is now used to having his photo taken and his pony companion, Jessie, is taking very good care of him.

Two mares, a pony named Rosemary and an older Arab name Lucy, have gone in to Short Term Care with trained carers for further assessment and handling and are both doing well.

All the foals are together for the time being and two will go out on a lovely stud with some other young ones after some handling.

An older paint mare is now a companion for a young horse and the children in the family just love her to bits.

After further negotiations with the owner, she has agreed to surrender a few more of the remaining horses. These will be assessed and placed into care over the next week.

This case has received media attention from the Herald Sun, 7 News, radio and local print press. Offers of assistance and support have been pouring in. This gives us so much heart in what has been an extremely long, upsetting and difficult case.

We are extremely grateful to everyone and would like to respond to everyone individually, but we are sure you will all understand that these and other unfortunate horses are going to consume a lot of our time.

We hate to say it, but what PHHWV needs in the immediate short term is money. Although we are all volunteers and give our time and facilities freely, we cannot expect vets, farrier, and feed companies to do the same. If you are not a member perhaps you could consider joining or making a donation. We have just recently gained tax deductible status where all donations over $2 are tax deductible.

PHHWV will not comment on the ongoing RSPCA investigation, and will refer enquiries of this nature to the RSPCA media office. Samantha and Kerryn would like to thank Inspector Mark Roberts for all his help with this case. From the minute he was contacted he has assisted the horses and us every step of the way.

It has been a stressful time for all who have been involved and many tears have been shed. It is nice to know the deceased horses have been laid to rest and the ones euthanised will not have to suffer the same long and painful death as their companions did.

For our last update on this case we were waiting for the owner to officially surrender three more horses. Over the next week, while waiting for the paper work to be completed, PHHWV continued to provide feed and attend to the remaining horses daily. This included a foal at foot that had been surrendered but not the dam.

Tuesday 10 April 2007

The young chestnut colt known as “Oliver”, who initially showed signs of improvement, was not doing so well this week. We knew his rescue would be touch and go, however late this evening the vet was called due to Oliver’s racing heart rate and depressed state. After a short while he lay down and had great difficulty getting back up. Due to his suffering he was euthanised not long after by the vet. In our eyes Oliver was a little hero. He loved all the attention by the local media and was becoming an old hand at posing for photos – not bad for an unhandled 2 year old colt who could not lead the week prior. He died knowing that there are humans with lots of love and food to give!

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Paper work is now complete for the surrender of the remaining three horses. A mare named “Jane”, along with her foal named “Katie”, are now in their new home where they will both have some handling and Katie will be weaned. This was the last day we attended the property. Unfortunately the final two horses needed to be euthanised; one which the owner indicated was a 10 year old unhandled rig but was later identified as a stallion; and a 15 year old unhandled chestnut mare, who as a foal sustained an injury to her knee and had been left unhandled ever since.

Summary

In total 24 of the 30 horses were voluntarily surrendered into the care of PHHWV, including nine of the ten identified “at risk”. Six horses remain with the owner. Nine horses are in the care of PHHWV. Varying views have been expressed as to the number of horses that have been euthanised. There is concern that the number is too high, while other people have questioned why all the horses were not humanely put down.

Animal welfare and humane action is the first priority of PHHWV, and a variety of factors go into making decisions when we assess any horse for surrender, rehabilitation and subsequent re-homing. We consult vets, experienced horseman and rely on the vast experience of our representatives who have been undertaking this type of work for the past 34 years. All people consulted consider the horses’ age, temperament, body condition, health, and most importantly, the realistic possibility of rehabilitation without further compromising the horses’ welfare. The current drought has also become a factor when making these tough decisions; a good season would offer more opportunity to provide the care needed without the added burden of drought that so many horse owners are not prepared for. Another increasing problem being recognised by PHHWV is the numbers of horses being left “wild” and unhandled, with little, or no human contact. With the possibility of herd sizes doubling every five years, this is a situation that easily becomes unmanageable for owners on fenced properties, and results in dangerous and fearful horses that are competing for limited feed and at a higher risk of health problems.

In these situations it is important that horse owners realise that they can not “surrender” their ways out of an overpopulated or inbreeding situation and expect a positive outcome for each and every horse. Unfortunately a large amount of time and expertise is required to train unhandled horses, and many are considered too “wild” for retraining, or are a risk of causing injury to other stock or people. As a result PHHWV will not place such a risk on its carers, their livestock or their property and have no alternative other than to euthanise. PHHWV has been inundated with offers of support and the response from the public has been fantastic. The media coverage we have received over the past week has really highlighted our cause in a number of ways, including an increase in calls about more horses in need of help.

The donations we received are greatly appreciated. Every cent counts and although we are still a little way off covering the costs of caring for the Kyneton horses, we can not thank you enough for you contributions and messages of support. Please keep those donations coming to help PHHWV care for the increased volume of horses we are being asked to assist.

Finally, we have had many people wanting to know what the horse community can do in relation to the laws surrounding horse welfare in Victoria. One of our aims is to contribute to the development of government legislation and policy, and we are definitely making headway in this area. It is a long, complicated and involved process that will take time and patience. It is important that we, the Victorian horse community, take the time needed to get it right. We will keep you informed via our web site on any developments and subsequent support
required. In the meantime, thank you all for your interest. Further updates on these horses can be found in our quartlery newsletter.

Donations can be made via PayPal or direct into the PHHWV gift account for details visit our donations page here.
Cheques and money orders can be posted to PHHWV GPO Box 1991 Melbourne 3001.