Closing/shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted or in this case after the horse had died!!! In our opinion the Scottish SPCA are a disgrace. Have your say about the Scottish SPCA

By John Rowbotham of the Hamilton Advertiser Feb 2007

TWO more people have contacted the Advertiser to say they alerted the SSPCA to the plight of two doomed horses at Ashgill. The foal and horse were left in a field in Bartie Gardens last summer.

Villagers claim the horses were neglected and starved to death.

Inspectors from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals visited the animals on several occasions. In December, the charity became concerned about the horses’ condition but an independent vet refused to authorise their removal from the field.

Name and shame this vet if it's true but if they were so concerned why not get another vet and lodge a complaint with the British Veterinary Association. There must be more than one vet in Lanarkshire. No animal lover would have accepted this vets decision. Hard to believe that a vet would have denied helping these poor horses!!

The charity then gave the owner of the horses three days to improve the horses’ condition. But the foal died during that period and the horse had to be put down.

Three days to improve when the animals had been starving for months - is this some sort of joke?

The SSPCA are investigating the matter and hope charges will brought against those responsible for the horses’ neglect.

Maybe it's the SSPCA that should be facing charges of neglect - neglecting to do their duty.

One woman, who witnessed the horses’ deterioration and whose comments were featured in last week’s article on the tragedy, has already complained to the SSPCA about the way they handled the incident.

Complaining to the Scottish SPCA in our experience falls on deaf ears.

Another woman, in her forties, who asked not to be named, said she contacted the charity on four occasions and was told “the horses were being watched”.

She said: “Even when the horses first went into the field, there was very little grass. It was mainly shoulder-high, dried up weeds. “At first, there were young kids there every few nights.

“They used to take the adult horse out and ride it bareback up and down the street. The horse always looked terrified. “After that no-one appeared, and as the weeks went by you could see the flesh falling off the horses.

“They had no food and there was never anyone there to help them.”

One can only imagine the suffering that these poor animals were subjected to. Horrendous

She added: “I am very distressed about what happened and cannot understand why the vet didn’t authorise their removal.”

A man who lives in the village and saw the horses each weekend also contacted the charity about the animals’ condition.

“I got in touch on December 18 when my father-in-law saw them and thought there was no way they would survive,” he added.

“It was a disgrace what happened.

In our opinion and from our experience the Scottish SPCA has been a disgrace for many years

“The field was in a shocking condition and there was never enough grass in the field for the animals to survive. “Every time I saw them, they were scratching about trying to nibble on something“ He continued: “I am an SSPCA supporter and give them regular contributions, but in this day and age, animals shouldn’t be starving to death.”

SSPCA spokesman Doreen Graham said inspectors had visited the horses on a number of occasions including September 12, October 10, November 20 and December 19.

“We did everything we could do within the laws with which we have to work,” she added.

“Had we tried to remove the horses without the permission of the vet, the owner could have charged us with theft. “We were relying on obtaining a vet’s report, but the vet didn’t support our views.

We really don't believe that a person that would treat these horses in this way would have gone down this route but if they did - great publicity for the SSPCA and they would have had the full support of the public behind them. Well Doreen you missed a good publicity opportunity there.

“We were between a rock and a hard place and are now in discussions with the vet’s practice.”

We say - ABSOLUTE RUBBISH!!!!!!

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