Today's most viewed
| NEWS | | | | | SPORT | | | | | INTERVIEWS |  | | | | | | | MIDWEEK TV | | | COMPETITIONS | | | | | | |
|
|
|
Only eight horses seized by RSPCA were at risk
A vet who examined more than one hundred horses seized from a farm, has told a court he believed only eight were at risk.
The animals were taken from Spindle Farm, Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, following a search of the premises by RSPCA inspectors and police.
Mr James Gray, the farm's owner is making an application to the court for the animals to be returned to him.
Vet John Parker examined the animals 11 days after they were seized.
Today he told Oxford Magistrates court he didn't believe the horses, donkeys and ponies had been "caused unnecessary suffering."
Mr Parker also told the court it was possible the animals had arrived at the farm already in a poor condition, adding he believed a "significant level were derived from a semi feral origin."
He said: " The public concept is that most horses live in a stables up to their noses in straw, but that is very far from the case.
There are horses from the Welsh hills which are semi-feral just as cattle and sheep in those areas are."
Thirty two animals were found dead during the search of the farm on January 9, but Mr Parker said that did not indicate signs of animal cruelty.
He said: " It is difficult to see why the presence of corpses should imply cruelty. It's not in a farmers interest to be cruel to his purchases."
Mr Gray, 44, told Mr Parker the corpses were kept separate from the other horses ready ready to be sold for slaughter.
Mr Parker told the court he visited Spindle farm at a later date and found the bedding and general condition of the farm to be of " Extremely good quality."
Asked if he believed the animals would be at risk of cruelty if they were returned, Mr Parker simply said "no."
The hearing will continue this afternoon.
1:55pm Friday 4th April 2008
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
