A mother and daughter who admitted neglecting a pony have been banned from keeping equines for five years and handed suspended prison sentences after a prosecution by the RSPCA.
Chloe Hudson, 27, and Shantel Tansley, 46, both of Ainsworth Lane, Bolton, admitted one offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and appeared at Wigan Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced on 20 March.
The court was told that Jewell, one of five equines being kept by the defendants at Higher Pasture Barn in Broadhead Road, Bolton, was in such a poor condition that a vet decided the kindest course of action was to put her to sleep.
A neighbour who was keeping her own horses on land next to the location became so concerned about Jewell that she contacted the RSPCA on 7 January, 2024.
In a statement presented to the court she said that two bay ponies being kept on the field were “skin and bone” and Jewell “looked ready to drop”.
Jewell’s condition worsened and the neighbour noticed she was suffering from diarrhoea and was uninterested in eating after she had offered to put hay out for the defendant’s equines during a period of snowfall a week later.
When she was looking after her own horses a couple of days later she saw that Jewell had collapsed.
“I ran down to the field and saw that the pony was laid on her side and not moving,” said said the vet, who tried unsuccessfully to contact Hudson. “She was breathing but she didn’t get up. The temperature was around minus six, it was freezing cold.
“The pony had profuse diarrhoea around her back end and on her tail and that had frozen to the ground. I was shocked by her condition.”
RSPCA Inspector Jennie Ronksley, who investigated the case, said that none of the equines kept in the field had natural or man-made shelter and the field was open to the elements with witnesses describing 80mph gusts of gusts.
The vet, who attended at the field, stated the pony was dying and he put her to sleep. When he rolled her body over the extent of emaciation became clear as her pelvic bone was protruding and femur was visible through wasted thigh muscle.
“It was clear that this pony did not get into this condition overnight and with more timely intervention and treatment (for a possible parasite infection) there would have been a different outcome,” the vet said. “Her owners were negligent in failing to move her to a more sheltered and warmer environment and failing to seek veterinary help.”
View an image of the pony’s very poor condition here (viewer discretion advised).
In mitigation, the court heard that both defendants were “very regretful” and had now rehomed all the other equines they owned. Hudson was pregnant at the time of the offence and suffered from mental health issues, while Tansley has received treatment for cancer.
As well as the disqualification, Hudson was sentenced to a 20-week prison sentence which was suspended for 24 months. Tansley received a 16-week prison sentence which was also suspended for 24 months.
