Ban for woman who allowed horse to suffer with broken nose
A woman from Middle Rasen in Lincs has been banned from keeping horses for a year after allowing three horses to get into a “pitiful condition”.
Renee Walker, who was described in court as “a professional or semi-professional horsewoman”, first came to the RSPCA’s attention in 2008, Grimsby Magistrates Court was told.
The 31-year-old mother-of-four, pleaded guilty to six offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 last month and was sentenced on Friday 17 February.
Nine of Walker’s horses were seized by the RSPCA from three different locations and three were found to be in a serious condition.
A mare, “Minka”, had a swollen eye, fractured nose bone and an infected abscess to its face, all of which had gone untreated.
Another mare, “Tia”, had an infected knee injury and the third horse, a gelding, “Rocky”, was emaciated and worm-infested.
Nigel Burn, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Walker had been warned about the state of her horses in the past, in 2008 and when 41 horses were found in an overcrowded state on her land in May 2010.
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Then in November 2010 she was told her 30 horses at that time did not have suitable conditions.
Prosecution came about after a call from the public about Minka’s condition in 2010.
In mitigation, Walker’s lawyer said that Walker had originally had enough land for the horses in her care, but this was cut to four acres when she moved home.
She dispersed her horses around various livery yards in the area but did not have regular transport to visit the animals.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.