where to make complaint?

jen_23

Hey all,

I called in to see my granny today and across from her house are two horses.
They are beautiful horses and very friendly. The problem is that the owner IMO is mistreating them.

They both have some sores on them prob nothing that looks too bad but still they keep getting more.
One of the horses had a halter on his head and he had a really nasty sore on his face from it being too tight.

Also this owner keeps them in a field filled with hundreds and thousands of buttercups!!

There are more buttercups than grass in the field.

Now it's my inderstanding that anyone who owns a horse surely knows that buttercups are poisonous to horses.

My Gran *bless her* keeps all her peels that she has from dinners and feeds it to them when she has them. And I stood there for a bit today pulling grass from the other side of the road to feed them they are starving and before I got there straining to get to the grass over the wall.

Okay here's the thing people have complained to the ISPCA that they are being mistreated and yet nothing has been done. Is their any other body that I can complain to?

Thanks!

Call me Socket

Buttercups? Never heard of them being harmful....you're not thinking of Ragworth are you? That's poisonous and it's yellow as well....

jen_23

Nope buttercups! (my gran told me some time ago i din't know before then though)


Quoted from wiki

'The buttercup (Ranunculaceae family) is potentially poisonous because it contains a compound called protoanemonin, which acts a powerful irritant to almost all grazing animals including horses. However most animals know to keep away from it due to the poor taste of the plant. The most common effect of Protoanemonin is to cause ulseration of the mouth, soreness of the mouth and sometimes colic. This 'effect' is the harmful side effect of the buttercup plant, as the effect stops the horse eating. As mentioned it is unlikely that a grazing animal will eat enough of the butercup to cause this effect due to the plants poor taste. A possible exception to this could be in the case were a horse had limited grazing and was also not getting fed regularly from its owner. When no other food is available to a grazing animal it will tend to eat what is there in order to survive even if it tastes bad. If you are concerned it is always advisable to contact your vet. '

Also http://www.cottsequine.co.uk/html/pdf/Factsheets/Horse/24_269893.pdf

These horses are smart enough though as they don't seem to be eating them (not that I'm there all the time) but they are starving! because I don' think they are eating much other than the peels and bits the few locals across the road give.

Call me Socket

Well there's one for me books, buttercups!!
Thanks for the info Jen:)

giddybootz

Hi Jen...that's so sad. And very worrying because of the risk of collic.

Try the places listed here: http://www.irishanimals.ie/equine/index.html

Maybe start with the Irish Horse Protection League 4582460

Let us know what happens. Good luck!

Red_Marauder

When you say they are starving, are they emaciated or thin?

I would be particularly worried about that halter, there have been some really horrible cases of tight halters doing serious damage to growing animals. If I were you I would probably contact the District Veterinary Office or your local Gardai directly as the next step.

jen_23

When you say they are starving, are they emaciated or thin?

I'm probably being a bit overdramatic. They are not skin and bones completely but they could prob be a bit bigger than what they are.

I imagine their main source of food is coming from the locals (theres a couple of houses across from the field one of them keeps horses too) that are prob giving them the majority of the food they are getting.

Their coats are a bit worse for wear as well. I'm not sure how to describe it but it's not nice and glossy like well looked after horses there's 'tufts' missing. Again you have to be close to the horse to see it.

but they are definitly being neglected.

i might go back up tomo evening and take a photo or two....

Red_Marauder

As regards the missing tufts, they might be late losing their winter coat. But if you are concerned you are right to try get some sort of intervention, well done on even noticing, a lot of people wouldn't look twice at this kind of thing.

YOURFACE!

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust will be able to help, their number is 0404 45720. They are based in Wicklow but as far as I know will travel to rescue horses. Thats great you noticed them, poor things, alot of horses are being forgotten about these days

cloudy day

Technically, yes buttercups are poisonous to horses if ingested, but horse's never eat them when they are growing. once they are cut and dried, like with hay, they are harmless, unlike ragwort, they won't eat that when it's growing but when it's cut and dried it get's more toxic. which is why it's so deadly.

welfare people cannot do a thing unless the horse's are emaciated, ribs and bones or if they are not getting water everyday to drink.

sad I know but that's the way it is.

WARNING do not under any circumstances give the horses grass cuttings as they are known to kill horse's and you could end up getting sued.

doctor evil

They are in more danger from getting colic from kitchen and garden scraps than from eating buttercups which are generally unpalatable.

Do the animals have water? If they are owned by pikeys for your own safety (and you grans) don't pick a fight!

cloudy day

doctor evil wrote: »

They are in more danger from getting colic from kitchen and garden scraps than from eating buttercups which are generally unpalatable.

Do the animals have water? If they are owned by pikeys for your own safety (and you grans) don't pick a fight!

Agreed. Be very careful.