BOLSOVER: Outcry as ‘starved’ horse found dumped
Horse found dumped off Bolsover Road, Shuttlewood
A HORRIFIED horse-lover is appealing for information after the body of a ‘starved’ colt was found dumped by the side of a road.
Animal sanctuary trustee Rachel Ward was alerted to the foal’s plight after another woman saw it lying on the ground, with blue rope tied around its neck and front legs, off Bolsover Road in Shuttlewood.
Mum Rachel, aged 44, said: “The horse was in an absolutely appalling condition.
“All his bones were poking up, he’d starved to death and was definitely malnutritioned.
“He’d got a rope around his neck really tight and rope around his front legs but I think that had been used to drag him from a lorry.
“I have worked in animal cruelty for 30 years and you never get used to it. The animal was less than a year old, he was only a baby.
“But the most horrifying thing for me was that he had been starved and left there when it is a place where people will walk their dogs.
The foal’s body was first seen last Friday morning, lying on a slope leading into a field.
Police are conducting enquiries to trace the owner of the creature after Rachel, of Rhodesia, Worksop, reported it to officers.
Rachel, a trustee at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary in North Anston, Sheffield, said: “It was a definite act of cruelty.
“It hadn’t just died, it had been starved.”
Dozens of people who follow the sanctuary on Facebook left horrified comments after pictures of the horse were posted.
Lorraine Briggs wrote: “This must be stopped and the people responsible found.”
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said they had been informed of the incident on Sunday morning.
Chesterfield Borough Council had been told and environmental health officers would remove the body.
She added: “Enquiries are ongoing to find out who owned the horse and from there on we can take appropriate action if needed.”
Anybody with information about the owner of the foal can contact Derbyshire Police on 101.
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Saturday 18 May 2013
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