Butchered horse found stuffed into bags
A dismembered body of a horse has been found dumped and stuffed into bags near train tracks in Southampton.
Maintenance workers found the head, torso and legs of the butchered horse close to Salterns Lane, Bursledon last Tuesday (6 March).
The body parts had been put in empty pet food bags and parts of the horse’s torso had been stripped of flesh.
The state of the carcass meant that there was no way of identifying the horse, its cause of death or whether it had suffered. However, RSPCA inspector Penny Baker, who attended the scene, said it appeared to be a young bay horse with feathers.
“We deal with a lot of reports of abandoned, neglected and emaciated horses, but this is horrific,” said inspector Baker.
“I thought I had seen some horrible sights in my time as an inspector, but this is by far the worst. It is an all time low.
“The cost of disposing of a dead horse is not cheap, and it seems some people are just dumping their animals rather than paying anything.”
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The RSPCA has said that it is dealing with a “horse crisis” across England and Wales. The charity has more than 800 horses in its care with a majority being kept in private boarding as its animal centers are full.
• Do you want to help combat the horse crisis? Our horses for loan section now includes rescued horses currently looking for new loan homes from the major welfare charities
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.