A woman who left a stallion with a hole in his face, having failed to seek veterinary care for an “obvious fracture”, has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Andrea Parry-Jones, of Carreg y Gad, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, was sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court on 27 March. The 35-year-old had pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences relating to a stallion called Ross, who was put down as a result of his injury.
In a statement to court, RSPCA inspector Mark Roberts said he was asked by Anglesey Trading Standards to visit a pony in “very poor condition”, last February. He found the stallion wearing two rugs but said it was “very clear he was thin”, and that when he slid his hands under the rugs at the shoulder, he could feel the bones.
“The pony also had a hole in its forehead just left of centre, [which] looked to be about half an inch deep and was scabbed over,” he said. “Some yellow discharge was observed coming from the left nostril of the pony.”
An RSPCA spokesperson said a vet came and removed the rugs to reveal a “very thin pony”, and completed a certificate to state that in her opinion, the pony was suffering and should be removed for veterinary care.
“Police took the pony into possession under the Animal Welfare Act 2006,” the spokesperson said. “The pony was transported to a private equine boarding establishment… where a specialist equine vet attended to examine Ross. Blood and faecal samples were taken and X-rays were taken of the pony’s skull to determine the depth of the hole in its head.”
The vet gave Ross a cody condition score of 0.5 on the 1-5 scale.
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In her statement, she said: “[He] had a prominent spine, ribs, pelvis, shoulder and caudal tail head. There was marked muscle wastage under the tail and the neck was very narrow. In my opinion, it has taken a minimum period of eight weeks for this horse to become so poor but likely longer. This has caused suffering for a minimum period of four weeks.”
Mr Roberts said that after the vet cleaned the injury, bubbles could be seen coming from the hole between the stallion’s eyes as he breathed. He said Ross was also suffering from rain scald.
Ross was taken to Leahurst Equine Practice for a CT scan, on the vet’s recommendation.
“The report confirms that the horse had a fracture of its frontal bone, which created a hole that communicated the outside of the horse with the frontal sinus,” the vet’s statement read.
“There were multiple fragments of bone from the fracture site, within the frontal sinus. There was soft tissue swelling around the fracture site.
“The edges of bone had new bone formation showing that the injury was chronic in timescale. In my opinion, this injury was approximately four weeks in age and the trauma and injury was painful for the horse and had caused suffering for this period.
“There were fragments of bone within the frontal sinus from the injury, which would have required surgery to remove if the horse was to recover from this injury.”
The RSPCA spokesperson said this surgery had an uncertain outcome, and was risky owing to Ross’s condition, “with a poor prognosis for recovery”.
“Therefore it was decided by a veterinary expert that to prevent further suffering Ross would be put to sleep,” the spokesperson said. “This was agreed by the owner Parry-Jones.”
In mitigation it was heard that Parry-Jones had genuine remorse.
Parry-Jones was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days. She was ordered to pay £2,000 costs.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
