Equine summit takes place
Members of the National Equine Welfare Council have met at the RSPCA in Southwater, West Sussex, in order to discuss the vast number of abandoned horses and how best to tackle the problem.
Speakers from the The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Redwings and World Horse Welfare described how frontline charity workers are trying to cope with the growing number of abused, abandoned and neglected horses, after numbers have doubled over the past year.
117 representatives from rescue centres, three governments, Local Authorities and universities attended the summit, discussing ways to tackle the horse crisis. Ideas such as birth control, improving and enforcing legislation and finding more homes were put forward.
Nicolas de Brauwere, NEWC Chairman and Head of Welfare, Rehabilitation and Education for Redwings Horse Sanctuary said: “We are being deluged with horses left, right and centre. It’s only by coming together that we can solve this. When the mess involves the suffering of animals it is an unacceptable situation we must try to prevent in any way we can.”
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.
