Woman from Cornwall banned from keeping animals for life after neglecting her horses
She was also given a suspended prison sentence
A woman from north Cornwall has been given a suspended prison sentence and a lifetime animal ban after neglecting her horses.
Helen Medland, from Launceston, admitted two animal welfare offences following a prosecution by the RSPCA.
An investigation led by the charity showed the 39-year-old, of Queen Elizabeth Road, had failed to meet the needs of her three horses for a prolonged period of time, despite advice being given by animal charities and offers of help from neighbours.
One of the horses, a Shetland pony named Sony, suffered due to untreated laminitis for several months.
Concerns had been raised by members of the public who lived close-by who were aware that three horses kept in a field were not being attended to by Medland.
They noticed there was no supplementary feed being provided, the horses were in deep mud and they had to provide water themselves that was not being provided by Medland. They provided hay themselves at times and the British Horse Society and World Horse Welfare also supplied food.
Occasionally large bales of haylage arrived which were placed on the outside of the field but accessible to the horses. These were wrapped in plastic and the horses had to bite through the plastic to access the haylage.
Following a bout of laminitis suffered by Sony in September 2020, Jon Phipps, a field officer for World Horse Welfare, repeatedly warned Medland of the necessity of regular and careful hoof trimming but despite this Sony's hooves were not trimmed from July 2020 to February 2021 leading to a further episode of laminitis.
On 4 February 2020, RSPCA Inspector Claire Ryder attended the field alongside a World Horse Welfare equine officer and a veterinary surgeon. They examined the three horses, Sony, Lola and Dream, and found the field to be very wet, muddy and waterlogged.
There was no feed in the field and hazards were present. There was hay outside of the field which the horses could see and smell but couldn’t reach. When this hay was examined the vet found it to be mouldy due to not being protected from the rain, which posed a health risk to the horses.
Sony was found to be debilitated with overgrown hooves, lameness due to chronic and painful laminitis and suffering unnecessarily as a result of the lack of care and treatment.
All three horses experienced a failure to meet their needs in various ways, including the need for a suitable environment, the need to be housed with or away from other animals, their need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease due to the failing to remove the plastic wrap from hay, lack of appropriate hay storage, lack of farriery care, lack of dental care, lack of appropriate worming, lack of lice control, lack of veterinary care as required, the use of leather headcollar on Sony whilst unsupervised, and their need for a suitable diet including an appropriate supply of fresh drinking water
“The veterinary surgeon who examined Sony concluded that he had undergone unnecessary suffering for several months because of the chronic laminitis and hoof overgrowth which has not been appropriately diagnosed and treated.”
RSPCA Inspector Claire Ryder, who investigated for the animal welfare charity
Alongside a sentence of 18 weeks custody, suspended for 12 months, Medland was also banned from owning animals for life and will not be able to appeal against the ban to be lifted for 15 years.
As part of her sentence, she was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £128 victim surcharge and deprived of ownership of her animals when she appeared before Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on June 4.