Late one Friday night a lorry arrived in darkness carrying ten equines, with only a few hours’ notice. Earlier that day SEPRONA had confiscated them for neglect and ill treatment from an owner who, allegedly, was a hoarder with mental illness. We had no idea about their details or condition before they arrived. According to the driver he had seen dead animals at the location and over 100 dogs had also been confiscated. Only four of the equines appeared to have microchips and we received no paperwork for any of them. SEPRONA informed us that the owner refused to be present when the animals were removed.
We are now sheltering two large mares, a mare with a filly foal, two small pony stallions, a donkey stallion, an elderly gelding, and two female donkeys (one of which looks pregnant). They all need urgent care. In addition to the extra hay and hard feed we will have to budget for, there will be extensive veterinary care costs, vaccinations, dentistry and all the animals need a farrier to sort out their neglected hooves.
This is going to put a huge strain on our finances as well as causing substantial additional work for our horse carers Aly and Elisabeth and our volunteer team. We take neglected and abused equines from SEPRONA but receive no costs from the authorities – we even have to pay for the transport in rescues such as this one. It seems that we have to keep appealing to our friends and supporters and the general public in order to keep going. To help us, please visit our website www.horserescuespain.org/donate Everything we receive will go towards making life better for these poor animals.