Once again ARCH have taken in horses in distress at very short notice. Our animal rights lawyer contacted us late one evening and asked if we were willing to step in as SEPRONA wanted to confiscate them. Although the Centre is full at the moment we could not refuse as there was no-one else willing to take responsibility for the unfortunate animals.
The two severely malnourished mares arrived from Huelva the next day. One had an apparently long-standing, untreated leg injury and could only walk on three legs. We had contacted our vet in the area who went with SEPRONA and our driver to collect the horses. He discussed the case with our vet Rocio who came urgently to the Centre to assess what could be done for her. Sadly the injury had gone untreated for so long that all we could do was free her from her pain. She had to suffer the long journey to the Centre before being put quietly to sleep because the law in Spain defends the right of an owner NOT to euthanise an animal. The only option open to SEPRONA and the area vet was to have the mare confiscated and sent to a charity. ARCH then had the right to put her to sleep upon vet’s advice. Our work is never easy but cases such as this are particularly distressing for all concerned.
The other mare, who is now known as Maggie (her registered name is Thatcher de Ramos) will hopefully have a brighter future.
