We now have two grey mares in rehabilitation here at the Centre. Both victims of cruel neglect and both from Huelva.
“Maggie” (above) is the remaining rescue of the pair who arrived recently, when sadly her companion had to be put to sleep on veterinary advice after suffering badly with a long-standing and incurable injury. She is a big mare, aged eight, and has given us some worrying moments since her arrival. As with so many animals in advanced stages of starvation, it is often difficult for their bodies to readjust, and she has been suffering bouts of colic after an impaction (probably due to eating sand as the only available food source). Thankfully, with prompt treatment and careful monitoring, things seem to have stabilised, and we are hopeful she has passed the critical period for rescues. Understandably, she is not particularly friendly but with ARCH care and consistency should make a good recovery physically, mentally and emotionally. And her name? Well, she is registered as “Thatcher de Ramos” so for anyone who remembers the political career of Margaret Thatcher it is obvious!
The second mare is a very sad little girl, looking younger than her four years, painfully thin as she has not had proper feeding or care. She was totally neglected, running wild and unable to be caught. She is also recovering from a nasty wound between her back legs. She will need a great deal of time, patience and good feeding to make a difference. We have named her Flyka.
Both horses came to us through the intervention of SEPRONA in Huelva. They gave been actively and confidently confiscating and prosecuting offenders in this province following work with our animal rights lawyer Aritz Toribio, who has been running courses explaining the new animal rights legislation. ARCH has been working very closely with both Aritz and SEPRONA and the ongoing partnership has alleviated the suffering of a number of unfortunate animals.