New Cases

This last year or so has seen a tremendous increase in horse welfare cases, we are now receiving 4 times as many calls each month and some of the cases we have seen have been saddening and heartbreaking and we know that we do not always win the fight and the process is sometimes a long one.

We have worked with the Trading Standards Animal Welfare Division at Wrexham several times over the last few years, as they support Horse Welfare, some council’s Trading Standards' Animal health and welfare are only interested in agricultural animals.  Horses do not come under this category but are not really classed as companion animals (dogs, cats etc, those who live at home) either, so where do they lie?  It is a difficult situation; they are classed as a luxury animal which doesn’t help them when they are left out in the cold muddy field in the depths of winter with no-one who cares enough to feed them.  With the down turn in the economic situation facing the country at this time there are many who just cannot afford to keep their horses, sadly horse welfare is getting a whole lot worse.

It never fails to amaze us here at H.A.C.K. the distress some horses and ponies and donkeys have to go through before anything is done to help them.  Within a radius of 15 miles of Wrexham there have been reported 250 cases of horse neglect and suffering during the latter months of 2007 and during 2008. Obviously this will now have increased and there are ongoing cases.

In 2008 H.A.C.K. took in 17 cases of severe neglect and helped a great many others, but sadly as always we are governed by finances and cannot help them all.