-
Published on: 25/01/2022 07:51 PMReported by: editor
Warning: Images people may find upsetting.
A couple who admitted keeping ponies in the worst conditions an RSPCA inspector had ever seen have been spared jail due to their "medical needs and age".
The RSPCA said Barbara and Jack Carter, 73 and 75, neglected "every basic aspect" of care for nine horses, eight of which had to be put down.
It said the Tarleton couple kept the ponies in a "barbaric" state.
Preston magistrates gave them 12-week suspended sentences and banned them from keeping animals for life.
A spokeswoman for the charity said the presiding magistrate had said the case crossed "the custody threshold", because of the "prolonged ill treatment and neglect", but had suspended the couple's sentences for three animal welfare offences because of their "medical needs and age".
She said RSPCA inspector Vicki McDonald and Lancashire Police officers went to the couple's home on Bank Bridge in April 2021 after they had previously avoided inspections, "citing various reasons".
She said Jack Carter denied there were any ponies or horses on site, but "reluctantly agreed" to show Ms McDonald the stable behind the house.
The inspector said she was shocked by what she found in that stable and three others and had "never seen anything like it in my entire career".
She said one pony was "stood on top of deep rotting litter that had built up so much that it reached the top of the stable door".
"The pony was unable to fully stand up and its back protruded through a hole in the stable roof."
She said the pony had "severely overgrown feet beyond anything I had seen before" and had hooves which "extended out and corkscrewed".
She then found three more horses with similar hooves and "patches of sore skin, most likely from having no option but to lie in their own filth".
"It was obvious that none of these ponies had been out of their stables or been seen by a farrier for a very considerable amount of time, if at all," she said.
All four ponies had to be put down.
Sources: RSPCA / BBC
-
Member Post Likes / Dislikes - 0 Likes, 0 Dislikes
Check Todays Deals on Ebay.co.uk
Check Todays Deals On Amazon.co.uk
Your Comments:
-
Shocking story. Poor animals. The owners should have got a custodial sentence, but a lifetime ban from owning any other animals is a good start.
-
Member Post Likes / Dislikes - 3 Likes, 0 Dislikes
-
Age was the obvious factor. I just hope things like this get reported sooner
-
Member Post Likes / Dislikes - 1 Likes, 0 Dislikes
-
"Medical needs and age" aren't valid excuses for animal abuse. The couple had prevented the RSPCA from carrying out inspections on previous ocassions - and even lied about owning ponies.
If they were struggling to provide even basic care they could have signed the animals over to a Rescue organisation, long before the ponies had deteriorated to such an state that they had to be euthanised.
Vile people!
-
Member Post Likes / Dislikes - 3 Likes, 0 Dislikes
-
As above, how does being in your 70's give you an excuse?
They managed to play the system initially .
-
Member Post Likes / Dislikes - 0 Likes, 0 Dislikes