Horse is euthanased after impaling itself on a metal fence
A horse has been put down after impaling itself on metal railings while trying to jump out of a field.
Surrey Fire and Rescue service were called out to a field in Stanwell just before 8am on Thursday, 4 July. They were attempting to free the piebald cob, when it reared up and pulled itself free before they could complete their work.
One eyewitness described the scene as “the most horrible and disturbing experience”.
He then went on to explain how they tried to save the horse: “We packed his wounds and applied pressure, and tried to keep him calm.
“But by this time he had gone into shock and was losing a lot of blood. As soon as the vet got there he told us what we thought from the start – that the internal damage was too bad and he had punctured his lungs and abdomen and needed to be put to sleep.
He added: “It has caused me a lot of heartache and I feel that this could have been avoided by changing the fencing.”
Surrey Police were also involved in the attempted rescue.
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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.