# sisters horses are suffering - do i call RSPCA?



## shellinch

my sister has 3 horses which she claims to love and never get rid of.

they all have been left inthe field to rot for past 2 years as she has had a baby and is now suffering with an illness so i get why they are not top of her priorities.
none of the horses have been ridden for nearly 2 years. she sent the foal off for breaking in jan this year then when the foal came home she left her in the field

problems with the horses are: -

they have rain rot
they are overwight (2 are prone to laminitus)
grazing is beyond poor and the field never gets poop scooped
feet are really over grown and out of shape so need the farrier
all have worm bellies so i doubt they have been wormed recently
one cob has flies laying eggs on the rainrot which im scared to death of him getting fly strike as i will go up when she aint there to sort him out and scoop the eggs out
yes i know what your all thinking why dont i do something.

last time i told her off for the state of the horses she didnt speak to me and wouldnt let me see my nephew for 6 months and the familly took her side as i was apparently getting involved where i shouldnt as they are her horses.

i have offered to take the horses on for her up my own yard but she wont move her horses from right outside her front house.

im really stuck as to what to do!!!!


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## lauz_1982

Anonymous tip off to the RSPCA who will get her to change her ways or find them a good home.

If you wanted them you could wait until she gets a visit and say then that you would be happy to take them if she wanted?

Please don't not do anything. They deserve better.

Laura


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## simplysardonic

My OH's family had to make the difficult decision with his sister's dogs, in the end they did it as it would have been on their consciences if they'd allowed it to continue. Its a hard thing to do but I personally wouldn't hesitate to involve the RSPCA if I felt I had to, even if they were a relative or friend. Be prepared for your sister to be angry, but I think you'd be doing these poor horses a favour by reporting her


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## Amy&Ted

I would report her. Neglect is neglect no matter who it is doing the neglecting. The horses deserve better and now they aren't her top priority they deserve to go somewhere that they are.


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## lymorelynn

I agree - an anonymous tip off and then offer to help out. Your sister needs a shock to have her eyes opened to the state of her horses if she will not accept your help and advice. Good luck


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## VickyF

lymorelynn said:


> I agree - an anonymous tip off and then offer to help out. Your sister needs a shock to have her eyes opened to the state of her horses if she will not accept your help and advice. Good luck


same as above ,neglect is neglect whoever it is!I know it will be hard if it is family but a horse can't speak for itself!


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## lauren001

Perhaps offer her some help. Get behind her and tell her you are on her side and try and persuade her to let you help in some way.
Telling her she is a bad person and criticising her will only result in her being defensive and result in the same "not speaking" that happened the last time.

She is obviously struggling and so get something organised to treat the rain rot, worm her horses and give her some help either by yourself or arrange for some help from someone locally to her.

The RSPCA may jolt her into action, however if she is really at the end of her tether, it may make her even more lackadaisical and eventually the horses will get taken away. She will never speak to you again ever...


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## Amy&Ted

lauren001 said:


> Perhaps offer her some help. Get behind her and tell her you are on her side and try and persuade her to let you help in some way.
> Telling her she is a bad person and criticising her will only result in her being defensive and result in the same "not speaking" that happened the last time.
> 
> She is obviously struggling and so get something organised to treat the rain rot, worm her horses and give her some help either by yourself or arrange for some help from someone locally to her.
> 
> The RSPCA may jolt her into action, however if she is really at the end of her tether, it may make her even more lackadaisical and eventually the horses will get taken away. *She will never speak to you again ever*...


That's perhaps a bit over dramatic :scared:


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## Lollie1515

lauren001 said:


> Perhaps offer her some help. Get behind her and tell her you are on her side and try and persuade her to let you help in some way.
> Telling her she is a bad person and criticising her will only result in her being defensive and result in the same "not speaking" that happened the last time.
> 
> She is obviously struggling and so get something organised to treat the rain rot, worm her horses and give her some help either by yourself or arrange for some help from someone locally to her.
> 
> The RSPCA may jolt her into action, however if she is really at the end of her tether, it may make her even more lackadaisical and eventually the horses will get taken away. She will never speak to you again ever...


Without sounded nasty people like this dont desevre animals.

Its not the horses fault at all, they didnt decide to have an owner who in imcapable of looking afte them due to a baby and personal illnesses.

If i were you call the rspca.


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## lauren001

[QUOTE="TedEBear]That's perhaps a bit over dramatic :scared:[/QUOTE]
Perhaps, but if the RSPCA were to take any animal of yours, would you be happy with the person who called them, especially if it was your sister, no matter how justified it was?

Telling her off *only* resulted in a 6 month ban from seeing her nephew, what do you think would happen if the RSPCA confiscated her horses? 
Hurt, embarrassment and pride would stop her being friendly again.

JMO


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## CarolineH

Report her. Where animal or child neglect is concerned, it shouldn't matter who she is in relation to you. The horses welfare is paramount.


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## Fenris

So what happens if the RSPCA call and decide to prosecute? Would you be happy if your sister was sent to prison? Her horses confiscated? She was banned from ever having anything to do with animals for life?

The RSPCA do not always get it right. A man has committed suicide because of an RSPCA raid. Can you be sure your sister would be strong enough to cope?

Take a look at:

Did the RSPCA drive a man to suicide? - Telegraph


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## simplysardonic

Fenris said:


> *So what happens if the RSPCA call and decide to prosecute? Would you be happy if your sister was sent to prison? Her horses confiscated? She was banned from ever having anything to do with animals for life?*
> 
> The RSPCA do not always get it right. A man has committed suicide because of an RSPCA raid. Can you be sure your sister would be strong enough to cope?
> 
> Take a look at:
> 
> Did the RSPCA drive a man to suicide? - Telegraph


She has outlined the neglect which sounds substantial enough to report, & my sister-in-law had a month inside & a lifetime ban, doesn't matter if it's family or not IMO cruelty is cruelty


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## CarolineH

simplysardonic said:


> She has outlined the neglect which sounds substantial enough to report, & my sister-in-law had a month inside & a lifetime ban, doesn't matter if it's family or not IMO cruelty is cruelty


Exactly. Cruelty and neglect is cruelty and neglect and she is responsible for her own behaviour as well as for those horses. If she won't mend her ways and either rehome them or buckle down and tend to them correctly then she has to pay the price. :

I took a spaniel from one of my sisters because the poor thing was going to be chained to shed for the rest of its life. She had been caged for most of her short life.  She went on to be a very successful gun dog and has a fantastic home where she is loved to bits.


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## Zayna

Please report this.... its more a case of neglect then cruelty so i doubt your sister will end up in prison. RSPCA might take the horses away but they do that as a last resort, they would much prefer to leave them where they are and give your sister advice on what she needs to do to care for them properly. 

dont let this go, your sister never needs to know that it was you that reported her, if they are out in a field anyone could have seen them and made the call.

You will be doing the right thing if you pick up the phone!


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## simplysardonic

Zayna said:


> Please report this.... its more a case of neglect then cruelty so i doubt your sister will end up in prison. RSPCA might take the horses away but they do that as a last resort, they would much prefer to leave them where they are and give your sister advice on what she needs to do to care for them properly.
> 
> dont let this go, your sister never needs to know that it was you that reported her, if they are out in a field anyone could have seen them and made the call.
> 
> You will be doing the right thing if you pick up the phone!


Sis-in-law was a neglect case, but very extreme, dogs had died of starvation & the others were emaciated when they were discovered


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## momentofmadness

The RSPCA would come out and issue a warning.. Stating if the animals need vet treatment etc... And then they come back out to check the situ... Or this is what they used to do.... If you get a good inspector..

I reported a horse dead in a field a couple of years ago.... it had been covered by several rugs... Inspector went out looked over the gate and spoke to owner.. Owner said it was hay.(it was right across the field)... RSPCA believed owner.....That same dead horse was dumped a couple of miles away about 2 weeks later.. sick..


I would try and help your sister.. she may not realise that she isn't giving them the care the horses need.. We all go through bad times an need a bit of help.. But some of us just can't see it..

Goodluck. xxx


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## Zayna

momentofmadness said:


> The RSPCA would come out and issue a warning.. Stating if the animals need vet treatment etc... And then they come back out to check the situ... Or this is what they used to do.... If you get a good inspector..
> 
> I reported a horse dead in a field a couple of years ago.... it had been covered by several rugs... Inspector went out looked over the gate and spoke to owner.. Owner said it was hay.(it was right across the field)... RSPCA believed owner.....That same dead horse was dumped a couple of miles away about 2 weeks later.. sick..
> 
> I would try and help your sister.. she may not realise that she isn't giving them the care the horses need.. We all go through bad times an need a bit of help.. But some of us just can't see it..
> 
> Goodluck. xxx


did the inspector not even check???

if i become an rspca inspector one day i will bloody well make sure i do a better job then that!!!


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## lauren001

simplysardonic said:


> She has outlined the neglect which sounds substantial enough to report, & my sister-in-law had a month inside & a lifetime ban, doesn't matter if it's family or not IMO cruelty is cruelty





simplysardonic said:


> Sis-in-law was a neglect case, but very extreme, dogs had died of starvation & the others were emaciated when they were discovered


Only a month.



momentofmadness said:


> I would try and help your sister.. she may not realise that she isn't giving them the care the horses need.. We all go through bad times an need a bit of help.. But some of us just can't see it..
> Goodluck. xxx


That is what I think too, getting the RSPCA may have further reprecussions than you think.


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## Valanita

I, like several people here, think you should have a long talk to your sister, before you do anything drastic like calling the RSPCA. 
If you are willing to help with her horses as well as your own & have the time, gently point this out to her, as she isn't well enough to see to them.
At present with it being Summer it isn't so bad if the horses aren't looked at every day, their present health problems withstanding, if those are treated, but what about the Winter, they will need feeding, coming in at night or at the least being rugged up & those checked at least twice a day, if this doesn't happen they are really going to suffer then.
Talk to her rationally with no anger, even if she gets angry, she will surely see the sense in it then.


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## Zayna

problem is if you make it an issue with your sis again then shortly after the rspca turn up she is gonna guess that you made the call.

when i was a kid i called the rspca out cos a man had some horses in a field near me and they were in a state, hooves all overgrown, no shelter, hardly any grazing in the field etc. saw an officer a couple of days later having a look around and after that we noticed that the man had started putting carrots and hay in the field, so he must have been given a warning of some sort. horses werent taken off him anyway so it worked out good in the end.:thumbup:


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## momentofmadness

Zayna said:


> did the inspector not even check???
> 
> if i become an rspca inspector one day i will bloody well make sure i do a better job then that!!!


No didn't even go through the gate... I rang the RSPCA to check... And then she contacted me.. In the end though they did have all there dogs taken off them.... As they kept getting out onto the main road and getting knocked down... RSPCA called for them and they found them in horrible conditions... Im also pretty sure her kids were taken off her aswell...

Someone rang the RSPCA on me once.. Over my ponies being in a field they reckoned they weren't being looked after.. the said pony was recovering, from a heavy season in the ring.. So was being ruffed off... They came out I met them.. they asked questions and were quite happy with the ponies...
LOL turned out that a tree in that field had dropped a very large branch (in bad winds) on a car parked next to it and damaged the car..lol this person tried to claim but couldn't as it was an act of god. So the person decided to try harrasing us so we would stop renting the field so the owner of the field would loose income.. Amazing how many people will waste the RSPCA time, when other really need help.. :~)


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## Slave2Fudge

Could you offer to take care of them at her fields???


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## Horse and Hound

momentofmadness said:


> Someone rang the RSPCA on me once.. Over my ponies being in a field they reckoned they weren't being looked after.. the said pony was recovering, from a heavy season in the ring.. So was being ruffed off... They came out I met them.. they asked questions and were quite happy with the ponies...


Ha! Someone I had a row with at a show called the RSPCA on me for jumping my horse. Said it was undernourished and I was beating it in full view of a showground full of people. 

RSPCA showed up and came and inspected then a day later told me I was under full investigation and if I did not comply with their findings, they would be siezing my horse!  Naturally I was astonished, and asked them why, and they said that a 20 year old animal was not fit to jump and my animal was clearly in distress! (at the time he was dozing over his stable door).

I got right onto it. My vet who I had been using since I got him when he was seriously mistreated, arranged 4 different evaluaions for me and said she would be there when the RSPCA next came as she was disgusted at them.

Anyway, I presented them with the vet reports when they next came back out to the yard, and it turns out the woman from the RSPCA had seen him snatching his back legs up and presumed he was injured. You should have seen their faces when my vet laughed and said "you get that with horses that have the shivers"

"Whats the shivers?" came the response.:scared:

Fair enough for people like me, who didn't know it existed till I fell in love with Harry, but for someone who is supposed to be an expert...jaaaaaysus- 
Understanding shivering - Horses for sale, Equestrian news - Horse & Hound

Needless to say my "ill treated" horse is still with me to this day and he's now 24 and STILL jumping! As he was only broken at the age of 9 after having a miserable start in life, I reckon he has a fair few years left longer than the average pony!

So, next time I saw the stupid wench at the show, I took GREAT delight in kicking her ar*e in the show ring. We got 2 firsts in the jumping and a 2nd in the working hunter. SHe got chucked off hers in all 3!


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## momentofmadness

Horse and Hound said:


> Ha! Someone I had a row with at a show called the RSPCA on me for jumping my horse. Said it was undernourished and I was beating it in full view of a showground full of people.
> 
> RSPCA showed up and came and inspected then a day later told me I was under full investigation and if I did not comply with their findings, they would be siezing my horse!  Naturally I was astonished, and asked them why, and they said that a 20 year old animal was not fit to jump and my animal was clearly in distress! (at the time he was dozing over his stable door).
> 
> I got right onto it. My vet who I had been using since I got him when he was seriously mistreated, arranged 4 different evaluaions for me and said she would be there when the RSPCA next came as she was disgusted at them.
> 
> Anyway, I presented them with the vet reports when they next came back out to the yard, and it turns out the woman from the RSPCA had seen him snatching his back legs up and presumed he was injured. You should have seen their faces when my vet laughed and said "you get that with horses that have the shivers"
> 
> "Whats the shivers?" came the response.:scared:
> 
> Fair enough for people like me, who didn't know it existed till I fell in love with Harry, but for someone who is supposed to be an expert...jaaaaaysus-
> Understanding shivering - Horses for sale, Equestrian news - Horse & Hound
> 
> Needless to say my "ill treated" horse is still with me to this day and he's now 24 and STILL jumping! As he was only broken at the age of 9 after having a miserable start in life, I reckon he has a fair few years left longer than the average pony!
> 
> So, next time I saw the stupid wench at the show, I took GREAT delight in kicking her ar*e in the show ring. We got 2 firsts in the jumping and a 2nd in the working hunter. SHe got chucked off hers in all 3!


Thats Karma.. haha


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## Horse and Hound

momentofmadness said:


> Thats Karma.. haha


Honestly, it was fantastic. We jumped 2 lovely clear rounds in the show jumping and he got 2nd in the WH as he gets carried away in the ridden showing and just wants to bomb off to the nearest jump again so his canter was a little "array!".

She got ditched in all 3. Twice at the first jump and then the last time when the horse just bucked her off whilst she was standing in line.

Brill.


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## Melx

I think when it comes to neglect and cruelty I'm sure we all can agree that it is serious enough to take action, sister or not!!
Those animals cant look after themselves and if she cant she shouldn't own them. 
Fair enough she loves them and wont sell them (I feel the same about mine) but if she cant look after them there is other options.
For example if this was me I would firstly hand them over to yourself if you werew my sister as you obviously will look after them and I would trust your being a family member, If this was not the case I would put them out in full loan for maybe 1 year each.
They need excersize and grooming and feeding properly and bathing occasionally! 
She may have problems but she is causing problems with these horses and it is absolutely disgusting that someone would do it when they have other options when other people manage and may not have any other options.

Just give her some advice, if she doesnt take it, you need to take action and call the RSPCA!!! 

Good luck! :thumbup:


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## Vixxen

youre better off reporting it to your local BHS welfare officer, they will act quickly


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## Zayna

Vixxen said:


> youre better off reporting it to your local BHS welfare officer, they will act quickly


thats a good point... but are they the ones that take the horses straight away... or is that HAPPA?


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## Koira

Whatever you do, be sure you do _something_. I think contacting the RSPCA and getting them to contact her would open her eyes a bit, but do so anonymously. Be sure they give her some time to try and take care of them, and offer her support and help so that she can continue to own them.

I think a wise thing to do would find people who might be interested in loaning them once they're healthy again. Not only would this provide care and exercise for the horses, it would also bring in some money and get somebody to take care of their pasture, since most loaners are ready to pay and take up some work around the stable/farm they loan from. This way, she could also keep her horses, and it would be a win win for all.


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## Boudicca1959

as its falling on deaf ears ,perhaps the time has come to take stronger action,could she not sign them over for rehoming?
Our daughter had to cope with a new baby and two horses ,she never let them get into such a state .
Its unfair to the horses and deep down iam sure your sister must be feeling guilty about the whole situation have you asked her?
If she doesnt care then she shouldnt have horses.
Any chance of her having an extra hand even if its to look after the baby whiile goes and sees to the horses..


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## madyasmkey

any horses in that condition needs sorting out dont leave it till its too late the RSPCA wont mention your name so she wont know it's you


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