Woman given lifetime ban from keeping animals after mass equine neglect conviction
By Katy Islip
General news
11 January 2012 16:58
A woman who left more than 20 horses in ‘dreadful’ conditions has been banned from keeping animals for life.
Valerie Pritchard, 65, of Cuminestown, Turriff, Aberdeenshire, was convicted of five offences under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act for causing unnecessary suffering to the horses, which were kept at her farm.
Her trial heard welfare officers found 23 horses in poor condition in an almost bare field and the rotting carcasses of up to 15 horses stored in a shed, and at sentencing she was given the lifetime ban and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Speaking after the hearing, Doug Howie, a field officer with charity World Horse Welfare (WHW), who visited the farm following a call from a concerned member of the public, said: “We are extremely pleased with the result as Ms Pritchard kept her horses in such dreadful conditions.
“The ban imposed today means that she will never be able to own horses again, therefore it is reassuring to know that she won’t be able to inflict such abuse again.”
During a previous court appearance, Pritchard admitted to one charge of failing to dispose of carcases but had previously denied the other four charges of causing unnecessary suffering and one charge of failing to provide for the welfare of her horses.
Mr Howie visited Pritchard’s farm on May 14, 2009, and found a stillborn foal delivered that morning along with a herd of 23 semi-feral stallions, mares and foals living in a poached and marshy field with little grass and no shelter.
One two-year-old filly was sweating, couldn’t get to her feet and her eyes were rolling, so a vet was called and put the horse to sleep.
Subsequent visits were made to assess the situation and decide how to proceed, and on one Mr Howie and a colleague, Eileen Gillen, discovered the carcasses after smelling rotting flesh.
The surviving horses, which were all underweight, had poor feet and lice, were taken to World Horse Welfare’s Belwade Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Aberdeenshire.
Mr Howie said: “The indiscriminate breeding has meant that many of the horses have health and conformation problems but they have all responded well to the care of World Horse Welfare since we took them in.
“Some have already been rehomed into loving new homes and we hope that all of them will go on to lead happy new lives.”