A 20-year-old horse was chased by a dog out of her field over a metal five-bar gate and on to a road days after a move to strengthen laws on livestock worrying was heard in parliament.
Owner Charlotte Mitchell was at work on Monday morning (8 December) when she received a call through her doorbell camera from a man asking if one of her horses had got out.
“I could see the gate was shut, and thought they couldn’t have got out over the 10ft high hedges around the field. Then I saw her fly by and realised, ‘That’s my mare’,” she told H&H.
“He was a bit horsey, so I directed him to where the headcollars were and asked if he could grab her, while I saw who I could get hold of.”
She contacted a couple of friends, who were there within minutes. The mare who had jumped out, MJ, had cuts on her front and hind legs, which her friends cleaned. They put her in the stable while Charlotte and her husband dashed back from their respective jobs.
Charlotte said MJ and her two field mates were “lathered with sweat” under their rugs.
One of her friends noticed that the new metal five-bar gate was “buckled” – Charlotte watched the doorbell footage and saw MJ “running for her life”, while being chased by a dog, and jump the metal field gate on to the road (see video, below).
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“I don’t know how she got her legs out to land,” said Charlotte. “She’s an ex-racer, 20 years old, seeing her like that… She’s my pride and joy. I rode her [during her racing career], rode her at my wedding, I’ve had her for 18 years. To see her running for her life…”
Charlotte called her vet for advice and MJ is on painkillers, comfortable and eating well.
Charlotte reported the incident to Cambridgeshire Constabulary straight away. She has followed up with at least four more calls, but the police have not taken action, which has left her feeling frustrated and concerned that something similar might happen again.
“I was told that it is waiting to be assigned to a police officer,” she said.
She has also reported it to the British Horse Society, which she said “has been amazing” and “very supportive”.
On Friday (5 December) the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill had its third and final reading in the House of Lords and has been sent to The King for royal assent, which means it will become law.
The legislation is designed to give police greater powers to tackle livestock worrying. Police will be empowered to detain dogs suspected of worrying livestock where there is nobody present to accept responsibility for the dog. The new law will allow for harsher punishments for offenders, and the police will be able to investigate incidents of livestock worrying that happened before the bill was passed into law.
“This situation shows that this bill is needed more than ever,” said Charlotte.
H&H has contacted Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
