Horse owner gets 3 month prison sentence and 15 year ban

A horse owner from Hampshire has been sentenced to three months in prison and banned from keeping horses for 15 years.

Mr Alan Sycklemoore from Hook pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal before Aldershot magistrates court on Tuesday (29 July).

On 14 January this year two ponies, a chestnut Shetland mare called Tia and a grey Shetland mare called Zoe were found in a paddock with severely overgrown hooves.

They were taken into care by World Horse Welfare but despite undergoing an operation on her front legs Tia had to be put down.

World Horse Welfare vets say Zoe will always be prone to laminitis but expect her to make a full recovery.

PC Stacy Beale from Hampshire police said: “I am happy with the end result although extremely saddened that despite all of the fighting from everyone involved in this case Tia’s life was lost, as a result of ignorance.

“When I visited Zoe at the beginning of July I was emotionally moved when I saw her dramatic transformation. I saw a different pony, a cheeky mare who was far from the point of being about to give up, she had found her spirit again.

“These ponies were clearly suffering from neglected feet and if it were not for the intervention of a concerned farrier, they would have both died.

“Ignorance is not an excuse. Even if you are not the owner of an animal, if you know it is suffering or being neglected you need to take action by either contacting the relevant agencies such as the RSPCA / WHW or the local police”.

World Horse Welfare field officer David Guy said “I endorse the comments made by PC Beale, I also wish that we had been contacted before this case ended up the way it has. Zoe is now in World Horse Welfare care and I am sure she will receive the care and attention she deserves,”

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