'At risk' horses on the rise
World Horse Welfare has reported a hike of 23% in the number of horses coming into its rescue centres from January to August compared with the same period last year.
According to the charity, it is taking in more groups of horses than ever before, and, following the release of the horse crisis report in 2012, the number of horses deemed 'at risk' has increased from an estimated 6,000 to 7,000.
Calls to the charity's welfare line have also increased by more than a quarter and there has been a rise in prosecution cases of 16% on the previous year. A consequence of this is that none of the horses involved can be rehomed until the case is concluded – sometimes years – putting further pressure on resources.
Contributing factors to the predicted horse crisis include the fact that horses are still being bred on a large scale and continue to be imported from Ireland and the Continent, despite there not being a market for them. A saturated market has led to animals being sold at some markets for as little as £5, the charity has said.
With breeders finding they can no longer sell their horses for a high price, animals are being left in fields to fend for themselves. Emaciation and horses being underweight is a primary concern, with many being 'fly grazed' in areas not usually associated with horsekeeping.
Debbie Graver, World Horse Welfare UK support officer, said:
“As a welfare charity we're always looking ahead, so with the inevitable effects of a bad winter we were under no illusion we were going to see more horses coming out of the winter skinnier. Therefore, horses were still going to be underweight during the summer as everything was slow to pick up.
“Bad weather is not the only reason we've received an increased number of welfare calls. As the economic downturn continues and the decreasing value of horses becomes apparent, it seems more people are abandoning or fly grazing their horses as they are finding it harder to cope with the cost of caring for a horse. As a result, people are noticing more horses appearing that they may not have seen before, coupled with the increasing amount of media coverage surrounding the current horse crisis, horses are more in the forefront of people’s mind than ever before.”
Information about the WHW horses at risk appeal can be found at www.worldhorsewelfare.org/Appeal/Horses-at-risk
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
