Over the years the ARCH team have been on some hairy rescue missions but our latest was one of the most memorable! We had been urgently alerted by city police to several horses in a very bad state, who had been searching for food in rubbish bins. Getting access to them through a tower block and clambering through mounds of junk, volunteers – accompanied by a vet – found four horses and a donkey in a makeshift enclosure together with the decomposing body of a fifth horse. The dead mare had been there three days, in 40 degrees of heat. She was heavily pregnant and her foal had died inside her, the stench was horrific. Exhausted and emaciated beyond belief, without help the other horses would have soon died from starvation. Leading them down a narrow and precipitous slope tested the nerves of even our hardened team, but thankfully all arrived at the Centre in one piece.
The new rescues are two grey mares, aged 15 and 19, the younger one accompanied by her filly foal, an old, once-magnificent PRE stallion and a large female donkey (who is not in bad condition). The horses will need months of proper feeding and veterinary attention, which is a challenge given our lack of fund-raising events due to the pandemic.
A Facebook appeal has had a wonderful response – you can also donate here. We are so grateful for any help.