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Arrest after 32 dead horses found Neglected foal 'showing recovery'
(about 7 hours later)
A man has been arrested following the discovery of 32 dead horses along with scores of neglected ponies and donkeys. A two-month-old foal saved from a site where 32 horses were found dead amongst dozens of neglected ponies and donkeys is recovering, rescuers have said.
James Gray, 44, was detained after the animals were found at a site in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The foal, named Esther, was taken to Norfolk-based Redwings Animal Sanctuary for urgent care after it was found at a farm in Amersham, Bucks, by the RSPCA.
Mr Gray, of Amersham, was charged with criminal damage and assaulting a police officer. Police would not confirm how he was connected to the operation. About 80 animals were found living in a squalid state alongside the dead horses last week, the charity said.
Three other animals had to be put down at the site on Friday. Mr Gray is due before magistrates on Monday. Despite a poor start in life Esther has done well, a Redwings spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday RSPCA staff and vets described the scene as the worst they had ever encountered, one saying it was "utterly horrific". "She is playful today and that is a really good sign.
The other 80 animals at the site have been transferred to horse sanctuaries. "We think she must be the youngest one they found," the spokeswoman at Redwings dedicated horse-hospital in Hapton said.
They were fully tethered and unable to move and deprived of food and water Horse Trust spokeswoman RSPCA Mistreatment on this scale is unprecedented in Britain Lee Hackett, British Horse Society
RSPCA officers described how dozens of dead horses had been piled up against fences. Esther and her mother were taken to the centre, along with 21 horses, ponies and donkeys rescued from the Amersham farm.
Rob Skinner, from the RSPCA, said: "I've seen some very gruesome things in the RSPCA in my time, but this is a very serious case. RSPCA officers described how dozens of dead horses had been piled up against fences at the farm, with workers describing the scene as the worst they had encountered.
"For this number of equines and the conditions the animals were kept in, it's a very bad case." Three horses were put down at the farm, and the emaciated animals which were rescued were taken to sanctuaries across the country.
The RSPCA said the owner of the farm had been investigated by its inspectors before, and that a tip-off from a member of the public had led officers to the site. "Some of them just won't let anyone near them at all," the Redwings spokeswoman said.
The Horse Trust is looking after many of the worst affected animals at The Home of Rest for Horses sanctuary in Speen in Buckinghamshire, where they are being tested for disease. "We have to put those through a gradual handling programme and let them recover before we eventually release them into a herd.
'Grossly emaciated' "Redwings Horse Sanctuary had travelled to rescues on many occasions but rarely sees cruelty so far advanced that equines are seemingly forgotten and literally left to die."
Among them are ten young colts and geldings, a blind dun mare and three donkeys including a six-month-old foal. Man charged
Some were described as "grossly emaciated" and found tied up in small pens, while others have suffered with overgrown feet but are currently too scared to be treated by the farrier. Lee Hackett, the British Horse Society's welfare senior executive, said: "Mistreatment on this scale is unprecedented in Britain - the true horror of the situation is only now becoming clear."
A spokeswoman for the charity said: "They were apparently standing in their own excrement and standing next to and on top of other dead animals. James Gray, 44, of Amersham, was arrested after the animals were found at the farm.
"They were fully tethered and unable to move and deprived of food and water." He has been charged with criminal damage and assaulting a police officer and is due before Aylesbury Magistrates court on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the Norfolk-based Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which has been helping with the rescue, said it had rarely seen horses in such a poor condition. Police would not confirm how he was connected to the operation.