Jail for man who admitted failing to care for his horses
A Rickmansworth man has been jailed for six weeks and disqualified from owning horses for five years by magistrates in Aylesbury.
Shaun Doyle was due to appear at the court on November 2008 but failed to appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was arrested last month and appeared in court on 5 March.
Doyle had admitted neglect of five young horses found by World Horse Welfare and the RSPCA in January 2008 on derelict land at Halton, with no water and doused in engine oil.
One later had to be put down.
His co-accused Jason Stanley, from Terrick near Aylesbury, who shared ownership of the horses, was sentenced to five days’ imprisonment, and ordered to carry out 400 hours community service on 24 November.
The remaining four horses remain in the care of the RSPCA.
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World Horse Welfare field officer Nick White said: “It is apparent that there are tough times ahead for horse owners who fail to provide for the needs of their horses and are brought before the courts under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.