There are growing concerns over the number of horses being abandoned in Leicestershire after the RSPCA discovered a dying four-year-old mare and a stillborn foal earlier this month (Sunday, 15 February).
The black and white cob was found in a road-side field in the village of Broughton Astley, near Leicester.
A passer-by, Katy Duckett, found the mare and called the RSPCA at 1.15pm.
The RSPCA arrived within an hour but the horse died just as the officer was calling for a vet to attend.
“Sadly, the horse had been suffering for some time, to the extent that it was collapsed on its side and had struggled so much that it had worn down the surrounding ground,” said a RSPCA spokesman.
The mare had recently given birth and an RSPCA officer found a foal on the same day in a nearby field that had been stillborn.
The case is the latest is a series of cases in the Leicestershire area.
On 15 January the bodies of another black and white cob type mare and foal were stuffed into a hedge in a field in Scraptoft.
RSPCA inspector Clint Davies said when he inspected the bodies they had started to decompose suggesting they had been dumped more than a week before.
“Things are getting worse. This is just one of several horse abandonments and reports of dead horses being dumped that I’ve been called out to recently. My colleagues are telling a similar story,” said Mr Davies.
He added that costs and people running out of grazing could be to blame for the increase in cases in the area.
“We are calling for legislation to help landowners to deal with illegal grazing and also for better enforcement of the laws around identification so that those responsible for neglecting horses can be made accountable,” a RSPCA spokesman added.
The RSPCA is appealing to anyone who might have information on either case to contact them on 0300 123 8018.
