CONVICTED (2018) | Tara Louise Sutton, born c. 1975, of Lanlivery, Bodmin PL30 5DL – left eight ponies to suffer in ‘dangerously boggy’ field in deep mud and with no food.
Tara Sutton, owner of a ‘ponies-for-hire’ business named Miss Polly’s Ponies, pleaded guilty on Thursday 25/10/2018 to two offences in a prosecution case brought by the RSPCA.
Sutton left ponies Cherry, Tic-Tac, Millie, Benson, Cilla, Lady, and two known as George to suffer in squalid conditions to the point that bones could be seen through their skin.
The ponies were rescued near Bodmin in April 2018.
Four of the ponies, two Shetlands known as George and Cilla, along with a cob known as George, and Cherry, were found to be suffering and were so underweight that bones could be seen through their skin.
RSPCA inspector Claire Ryder, who investigated the neglect, said: “This case is a reminder that caring for horses is a huge responsibility and highlights the importance of ensuring their welfare.
“Sutton neglected to meet the basic care needs of her horses; they were kept in wholly unsuitable housing with no forage, no food, and just a small amount of dirty water.
“The land where they were left to graze was dangerously boggy, with ponies faced with no choice but to stand in deep mud.
“Wherever possible we offer advice and assistance to improve animal welfare, including giving people time to make improvements to their standards of care, however, despite advice from ourselves, other equine charities, and a Defra vet, Sutton continued to fail to provide appropriate care for her horses.”
Sentencing: 12 weeks in custody, suspended for twelve months. Ordered to pay £300. Banned from keeping equines for three years (expired October 2021). The disqualification and seizure orders are suspended for 28 days by the court to enable her to find homes for the horses in her care.
CONVICTED (2018) | equine business owner Jane Elizabeth Hunt, born 24 April 1966, of Saddlestones, Littleham, Bideford, EX39 5HW – failed to treat her horse’s weight loss and hoof abscess.
Hunt was found guilty on two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal in relation to a horse named Polly.
The first count stated that Hunt had “failed to explore and address the cause of her poor bodily condition”.
The second count specified that she “failed to seek appropriate professional veterinary care for an abscess”.
The court ordered that Hunt should be “deprived ownership” of Polly under section 33 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
However, no order was made to disqualify Hunt from owning horses because “the other horses appear to be in good condition”.
Following the case Torridge District Council have apparently instructed Hunt to close her equestrian business Welcombe Equine on the grounds that this was unlicensed and uninsured.
Promo for Jane Hunt’s equestrian business which has been ordered by the local authority to cease trading.
Sentencing: total of £835 costs and charges; 100 hours of unpaid community work within the next 12 months. No ban.
Hunt was ordered to pay £2,000 in fines and costs for operating a riding school without a licence following an investigation by Torridge Council. She was also banned from holding a licence for two years.
Hunt had submitted an application but vets who inspected Welcombe Equine failed to approve the business, saying it “fell seriously short of an acceptable standard on many points”.
Despite being cautioned that she should not operate the riding school until it was compliant, and a fresh application had been granted, the council said that Hunt had continued to advertise her services on Facebook.
Councillor Ken James, lead member for the environment said: “The animal licensing regime exists to ensure the welfare of animals as well as the health and safety of customers using facilities.
“Through her actions Mrs Hunt has shown a blatant disregard for her responsibilities under the law, which has been confirmed in court. Last year, a thoroughbred mare called Polly was removed from Mrs Hunt’s care by the RSPCA after she was found in a “poor body condition” and with a burst abscess above her hoof for which she had “failed to seek appropriate veterinary care”.
CONVICTED (2018) | puppy farmer Rosemary Fabb, born c. 1941, of Fern Bank, Carr Lane, Roughton, Norwich NR11 8PG – admitted 17 charges relating to breeding puppies without a licence at her home.
Rosemary Fabb kept dogs and puppies in cold conditions and without food and water, at her illegal Norfolk puppy farm
The charges against Rosemary Fabb included causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Fabb had bred dogs at the site with a licence up until 2014, but failed to get it renewed.
Vets were called to the puppy farm by North Norfolk District Council last February and they found dogs kept in facilities which were out-of-date following changes to legislation.
Animals were discovered unvaccinated, with ear infections, dental disease and matted hair covered in faeces and sawdust.
The prosecutor, Lynne Shirley told the court that Fabb had threatened an inspector saying “I know the mafia, and she’d [the inspector] better look out”.
The court heard that over the years Mrs Fabb had signed over 30 dogs to the RSPCA but by January 2018 she still had 10 animals, mainly toy poodles, that she was breeding.
All the dogs found have been re-homed by the RSPCA.
In March 2016, Fabb was banned from running a riding school for five years, alongside son Ben Fabb, after she was prosecuted for not having a licence to run the Fern Bank Riding School.
Magistrates heard that North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) had refused a licence to the Fabbs in January 2015 following serious concerns identified by a veterinary inspector about the health and welfare of Fern Bank’s horses.
Ben Fabb
Vet Diana Verhulst’s inspection report to NNDC in January 2015 said that she had found it to be untidy and unhygienic.
Horses were not adequately groomed and the pasture and shelter were insufficient for the number of animals.
The Fabbs claimed some of their horses had been rescued weeks before the inspection and were in a poor state when they arrived. Ben Fabb said they looked after their animals ‘100 per cent.’
Sentencing: 22 weeks jail, suspended for two years due to Fabb’s age and infirmity. Ordered to pay £12,731 in costs within a month. Disqualified from keeping and breeding animals until further notice .
CONVICTED (2016) | Charles Smith, born November 1972, of Bigfield Lodge travellers site, Warrington Road, Runcorn WA7 1RD – neglected five horses, with two having to be put down.
RSPCA inspectors who visited Charles Smith’s stables on Chester Road Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AL on more than a dozen occasions found that the recycling and skip hire company owner often failed to provide horses on the land with food and water and left them in a field with barbed wire in it.
Officers concerned about the welfare of horses at Ponderosa Stables visited the property a total of 14 times between July and October 2015. They found as many as eight horses, including one that was heavily pregnant, on the land and on occasions discovered that no food or water had been provided to them.
Animals were described as looking underweight and lethargic, while on one occasion a worried member of the public had taken the step of putting hay on Smith’s land for the horses.
Horses were found to be eating ragwort, which could cause them chronic liver damage, during several visits due to the lack of food provided.
The environment the animals were living in was also described as poor, with the field containing barbed and broken wood while concerns were raised about a hole in a hedge that could have led to the horses escaping onto the road.
Smith, who owns Runcorn Recycling Scrap Metal Limited, shouted at officers and claimed that there was nothing wrong with the animals.
Two emaciated mares were described a having ‘suffered unnecessarily’ due to an ‘inadequate’ food supply. Both were later put down, with one having behavioural problems and the other suffering from persistent swelling of the legs.
Smith admitted one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and another charge of not fulfilling duties as a person responsible for the welfare of animals.
Sentence: 300 hours of unpaid work; fines of £1,240.80. Banned from keeping animals for a five years (expired 2021).
CONVICTED (2016) | livery yard owner Lynda Smith (aka Lynda Beaney), born c. 1982, of Beaumont Park, Littlehampton BN17 6PF – neglected two horses for several months until they became emaciated and malnourished
Livery yard owner Lynda Smith was not banned from owning horses despite starving and neglecting the health of two of them
Lynda Smith was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of the horses, known as Hamish and Ava, between August 2015 and February 2016. Both horses were emaciated and malnourished when discovered by the RSPCA.
Hamish when he was found by the RSPCA
The RSPCA received a complaint about the condition of Hamish and Ava, who were owned by Smith and kept at stables at Lickfold Farm in Wiggonholt, Pulborough, and investigated immediately. Once RSPCA inspector Tony Woodley saw the state of the two horses at the yard, he tried to contact Smith by telephone and left notices at the stables, but these were ignored.
Both horses were emaciated having been starved for months. Shown is Ava.
Inspector Woodley was left with no choice but to call a vet who confirmed that both Hamish and Ava were suffering. Police then removed them and placed them into RSPCA care.
“Thankfully both horses have been in RSPCA for some time now and are looking fantastic. It’s sad to think they horses suffered so much but now this case had concluded they can go on to find the caring forever homes they deserve.”
Inspector Woodley said: “For months these poor horses suffered because Lynda Smith failed to get a vet out to them, even though they rapidly were losing body condition. Quite simply these horses were not provided with adequate feed and reasonable level of care. Smith ignored my attempts to contact her to offer advice on improving their welfare. Both Ava and Hamish had high worm burdens, their teeth were in desperate need of specialist equine dentistry and they were emaciated.
Sentence: deprived of the two starved horses; ordered to pay a total of £1,930 in fines, costs and charges.
CONVICTED (2016) | Aniela Jurecka, born 26 September 1987, of Prospect Place, Collier Street, Tonbridge TN12 9BP; Charlotte Johnson, born c. 1987, of Tollgate Way, Sandling, Maidstone ME14 3DF, and vet David Edward Smith, born February 1950, of Lower Farm, The Street, Finglesham CT14 0NA – drugged sick and potentially dangerous horses and sold them to unsuspecting buyers.
Vet David Smith was a key player in a horse drugging scam alongside Aniela Jurecka (middle) and Charlotte Johnson (right).
The horses, priced from £1,950 to £5,700, were drugged at South East Horses, based at Great Thorn Farm in Marden and at hired land at Duckhurst Farm in Staplehurst, to cover up lameness and other problems.
Jurecka and Johnson advertised horses for sale in equestrian publications, but text messages revealed the pair were drugging horses to mask poor behaviour or lameness. The women would advise buyers to save money by using the veterinary services of David Smith, who would give the horses a clean bill of health.
Prices for the horses ranged from £1,950 to £5,700 and they were sold from Duckhurst Farm in Staplehurst and Great Thorn Farm in Marden, both in Kent, with certificates for good health provided by Smith.
Jurecka and Johnson were convicted of drugging potentially dangerous horses and selling them on.
Police launched an investigation after the first report was received by officers in October 2010. The horse, called Belle, developed behavioural problems and was lame, and was a thoroughbred, not an Irish sports horse as advertised.
They were arrested after a large-scale operation, which involved Kent Police, Trading Standards and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).
Jurecka and Johnson pictured outside court.
On 31 May 2013, police executed a warrant at Lakeview Veterinary Centre in Capel Le Ferne, where Smith was practising. They seized information from computers, which uncovered poor record-keeping by Smith, in particular surrounding the supply of Modecate — a long-acting sedative.
Several text messages sent to Smith by the dealers were also uncovered by the detectives where Jurecka asked Smith for Modecate and sedative Sedalin.
Due to the number of victims coming forward, the investigation was a complex and large enquiry. The trio were charged with fraud in January 2015.
Corrupt vet pictured during his court appearance.
After a 14-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Jurecka, Johnson and Smith were convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
In scathing comments after the verdicts, Judge Martin Joy said the trio had been convicted on overwhelming evidence of committing the offence over a long period, defrauding a large number of customers. Several customers were thrown and at least one was in hospital for two months with life-threatening injuries.
Others had broken ribs and one was left unconscious in a ditch.
Many horses had to be destroyed or retired.
Smith had previously been struck off from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for serious misconduct in certifying animals he had not examined. He was later reinstated by his college but went on to commit frauds in the latest case.
Speaking after the verdicts, Detective Constable Tracey Brightman said: “These horses were obtained cheaply by the Johnson and Jurecka because they had physical problems or aggressive tendencies.
“We believe their issues were masked with drugs supplied by Smith when a potential buyer came to try out the horse. “The dealers made huge profits on unfit, ill and injured horses working with a veterinary surgeon to ensure their lies were covered with credibility.
‘What they were doing was not only fraud but also putting their customers in danger. In one instance a woman was left unable to walk for a year after being thrown from her horse.
“It later transpired the animal had serious back problems which made it unsuitable for the activities that Smith had passed it for.
“The criminal aspect of the case may overlook the fact that passing an injured horse as fit to ride and jump is nothing short of cruel and shows a complete disregard to the veterinary oath.
“Unfortunately in some cases the horses were so ill they had to be euthanized causing yet more distress to the new owners.”
Sentencing: each was sentenced to two-and-half-years behind bars.
It was reported that David Smith had been removed from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Registrar after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud in court and for a number of clinical failings. Smith appealed the decision and the outcome of that appeal is not currently known.
CONVICTED (2014) | riding school owner Tina Hodge, born December 1966, of 11 Cullimore View, Ruspidge, Cinderford GL14 3HP – failed to meet the welfare needs of two horses.
Tina Hodge with Peter Andre. Forest Trekking featured in a 2013 documentary on the singer’s life.
Hodge, owner of Forest Trekking based at Court Farm, Coleford Road, Bream, Lydney GL15 64S, was ordered to pay more than £1,400 in fines and costs after being found guilty of horse cruelty. She was not banned from owning animals.
She was charged with failing to ensure a dark bay horse named Star received veterinary care for an injury and not providing hoof care for a piebald pony called Lucky. Magistrates found her guilty and fined her £220 and ordered her to pay £1,200 in costs.
Star had an untreated rug sore.
The RSPCA was called in March 2013 and inspector Pippa Hodge found Star with an untreated rug sore.
Three months later, in June 2013, Lucky was found at Forest Trekking with feet curled up into “Aladdin’s slippers”. He had not been exercised and had apparently been in his stable for seven months.
Lucky had not received treatment for badly overgrown hooves – which were described as looking like ’Aladdin’s slippers’. He was reported as having been confined to a stable for seven months, and had not been exercised.
Hodge had previously been advised on caring for horses from the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.
RSPCA inspector Suzi Smith, who investigated Lucky’s case, said: “I am pleased that this case has now been resolved.
“The defendant said that Lucky was difficult to catch and that’s why his hooves were in such an awful state, but we managed to catch and load him onto transport, as well as trim his hooves, quite easily.
“There can be no excuse for someone who keeps horses not to provide them with the most basic care to meet their needs and that includes ensuring they receive veterinary care and farriery when they need it.
“If they can’t cope with this they need to seek help.”
World Horse Welfare field officer Phil Jones said: “This case is sadly typical of the types of cases we deal with.
“We regularly see owners who have more horses than they can cope with meaning that the animals do not get the level of care and attention they need and the situation can escalate into a welfare problem.
“World Horse Welfare would always advise that if horse owners are feeling overwhelmed or need help coping they should get in touch early, ask for help and try to follow the guidance given to ensure that the best option is taken for horse welfare.”
Both Lucky and Star were rehomed following their recovery.
Hodge’s re-application to offer horses for riding at Court Farm was overshadowed by a public campaign against the council granting her a licence – a campaign that began soon after her conviction in April 2014, and which included internet petitions gathering signatories, and a handbill which was distributed around the Forest.
The handbill read: “Horse neglect. Tina Hodge still continues running Forest Trekking from Court Farm, Bream – after conviction (she is) still in ownership of 35 badly kept horses. Stop this suffering. Support our campaign.”
The re-application was for a total of eight, named, horses. The Licensing Committee reported that they had received five emails and two letters asking that Hodge’s licence not be renewed, and one letter in support of the application.
Animal rights campaigners in the area were quick to applaud the decision, with one group, ’Forest of Dean Animal Rights’ releasing the following statement:
“We applaud the decision of the Forest of Dean District Council to deny convicted animal abuser Tina Hodge a licence to run her trekking business.
“Her continued trading was another stain on the Forest of Dean, that she will be no longer allowed to trade is a step in the right direction.”
Update November 2021
Sadly it would appear that the decision not to grant Tina Hodge a Riding Establishment Licence was later reversed and Forest Trekking continues to trade in 2021. There are allegations that Hodge continues to show scant regard for the welfare of the horses in her care with reports of animals being up to their knees and mud and a yearling being found dead. There has also been criticism of the local authority with suggestions that they are turning a blind eye to Hodge’s alleged cruelty.
Update May 2022
Tina Hodge was ordered to pay almost £4,000 in court costs after admitting she endangered the health of nine horses by failing to unwrap their hay bales properly, putting them at risk of swallowing plastic.
Hodge pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on May 11, 2022, to failing to take steps to ensure that the needs of the horses on land opposite Court Farm, Coleford rd, Bream, were met on 5th March 2021
As well as being ordered to pay prosecution costs of £3,900 and a victim services surcharge of £22, Hodge was also given a three-year conditional discharge.
The charge which she admitted was brought under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and stated that she “did fail properly to remove all plastic wrapping and netting from the hay bales deposited as food requiring the horses to rip the plastic wrapping netting in order to eat, causing a health risk to the horses by ingesting small amounts of plastic.”
Hodge denied two further similar animal welfare charges which were dismissed after the prosecution offered no evidence
One of those charges was that she failed to muck out the stables “causing four horses to stand in excessive faecal waste of approximately two feet in height and failed to provide the horses with access to fresh water.”
The other alleged that the needs of three horses were not met “in that the horses were standing in an excessive amount of faeces and wet straw that had not been mucked out for some time, with wet bedding due to large holes in the roof and no visible access to drinking water.”
Hodge had denied all three charges against her but admitted one of them on the scheduled day of trial and the others were then not proceeded with.
The magistrates said her credit for pleading guilty was reduced because of the lateness of plea.
CONVICTED (2013) | Evan Lloyd Evans, born c. 1944, of Pencarth Uchaf Farm, Chwilog, Pwllheli LL53 6SW – caused unnecessary suffering and failed to meet the welfare needs of 51 Welsh mountain ponies.
Horse breeder Evan Lloyd Evans was found guilty of keeping 51 horses in appalling conditions at Cricieth Stud, Pwllheli.
The court heard RSPCA officers visited the stud farm on 27 June 2012, and a vet put nine horses to sleep due to untreatable hoof conditions and to prevent further suffering.
Another 50 horses were removed.
Of the 59 horses discovered at Pencarth Uchaf, Chwilog, near Pwllheli only five were found to have normal hooves.
The court was shown harrowing videos made by the RSPCA and the World Horse Welfare charity showing the poor state of the animals’ feet and their living conditions.
Other charges dealt with allegations Evans failed to provide adequate bedding and exposed the horses to hazards.
The court heard the floor in all the sheds were covered in dirty hay. In most of the sheds there were pieces of broken agricultural equipment on which the horses could injure themselves.
The fencing around the pens was makeshift and in a poor state.
RSPCA inspector Mark Roberts said: “The conditions we found at Cricieth Stud were appalling and completely inappropriate for the ponies kept there.
“Many of them had acute problems with their feet and other serious health issues.
“We had been alerted to the fact there were many ponies in unsuitable conditions but did not expect to have to remove 50 of them on veterinary advice.
“In addition the vets also advised that nine had to be put to sleep as sadly their condition was so extreme there was no other way to alleviate their suffering.”
“It was an extremely bad situation made worse by the fact that many of the ponies were virtually unhandled making any necessary treatment incredibly difficult to carry out.”
Nigel Weller, for Evans, said: “He has devoted his life to breeding horses and he is quite proud of what he has achieved with horses which bear the Criccieth prefix. He is quite well known and his animals are desired and he is anxious the bloodline is protected.”
He said the situation had existed at the farm for only a short time and was exacerbated by Evans’ poor health and lack of help.
He told the court the number of horses at the farm had been reduced by two-thirds and the remainder transferred to his daughter who lives nearby and who will be able to care for them with assistance from other family members.
Inspector Roberts said the case highlighted how “over breeding and overstocking can spiral out of control”.
“This is a fair sentence and sends a strong message to all horse owners and breeders that they must put the welfare of their horses before all else,” he added.
Tony Evans, north and mid Wales field officer for World Horse Welfare, said: “It saddens me to think that all the help and advice that was given to the owner failed to have any significant effect.
“As our main priority has to be the welfare of the ponies, we had no choice than to involve the RSPCA to undertake stronger measures.
“In many of the situations we deal with, long and costly prosecution cases can often be avoided if the owner follows the advice given by World Horse Welfare field officers and takes appropriate action.”
The judge was told that looking after the horses since June 2012 had cost the RSPCA £300,000 but that Evans had no money.
Jailing Evans Judge Andrew Shaw said: “For many years you were an owner, keeper and breeder of Welsh mountain ponies. I am treating this as a medium term period of neglect. You ignored warnings and nine animals were in such a poor condition they were euthanised. These are particularly serious offences.”
Sentencing: jailed for 10 weeks. Banned from keeping animals for 10 years (expires November 2023).
Despite Evan Lloyd Evans’ ban on keeping animals still being in force, he was found to have 91 ponies on his land. The ponies were being kept in poor conditions causing suffering to dozens of them.
Evans pleaded guilty to 10 Animal Welfare Act offences and was given a 20-week suspended jail term.
The prosecution followed a multi-agency operation at Evans’ farm in September 2020, after reports horses and other animals were being kept in poor conditions, and – in the case of the ponies – in breach of a pre-existing 10-year ban handed to Evans in 2013.
Video footage shown to the court revealed the conditions at the farm and showed horses stood in filthy, dark and hazardous conditions.
Dozens of horses and other animals were kept in outbuildings, barns and fields in highly inappropriate conditions, with faeces everywhere – and even a bucket of dead rats, the RSPCA said.
The court heard Evans kept 91 ponies in illegal conditions which were unhygienic and not free from hazards.
Vets felt dozens of the horses had suffered unnecessarily – including one, a Welsh Section A pony, who had not received appropriate veterinary care for a broken leg; and another four Section A ponies who had not been given vet attention for lameness. Evans also failed to ensure six of his ponies had appropriate treatment for parasites.
A pony had a severe facial deformity which had gone unchecked. A total of 28 of the ponies suffered as a consequence of Evans’ failure to secure appropriate dental care, while a further eight were also deemed to have suffered through not receiving appropriate hoof care.
In addition to the suspended jail term, Evans was banned from keeping horses and poultry for 20 years, fined £1,000 fine and a £128 victim surcharge.
Evans admitted breaching the previous 10-year ban from keeping equines. His ban was extended by the magistrates and will now continue until 2041.
CONVICTED (2009) | Dawn Elizabeth Rose, born 25/01/1960, previously of Llangolen, North Wales, and more recently Duncan Street, Brinsworth, Rotherham S60 5DE – allowed 72 horses on her failing stud farm to starve
RSPCA inspectors found desperately emaciated animals on Dawn Rose’s stud farm.
Divorcee Dawn Rose set up a stud farm using a £300,000 pay-out from her ex-partner to fulfil her teenage daughter’s dream of breeding ponies.
But the business was a failure, and when inspectors raided it they found desperately emaciated animals foraging for scraps of food.
Rose pleaded guilty to six charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
The mother-of-two wept as RSPCA prosecutor Glen Murphy said the experienced inspection team had been “stunned” by the appalling condition of the animals on her stud farm.
RSPCA inspector Chris Dunbar first visited Rose in March 2008 when she bought her 42-acre farm to start a stud.
Inspector Dunbar said: “We had concerns from the start as she wasn’t feeding the horses. We kept going back — she listened but did nothing.”
One horse, a chestnut mare called Mist, was little more than a ‘skeleton with skin stretched over’, and the vet who treated her was amazed she could still stand up.
Three others were so weak that they died soon afterwards.
Rose, who had moved to the area from Norfolk, told investigators her money had run out and she could not afford to pay for the animals.
Sitting at Mold magistrates court, district judge Andrew Shaw told Ms Rose: “You neglected these horses in an obvious and shameful way.”
Mr Dunbar added: “We were happy with the ban. Our job is to stop cruelty and in this case that’s what we feel we’ve done.”
Sentencing: three-month sentence suspended for 12 months; 100 hours of unpaid community work. Banned from keeping or being involved with horses for 10 years (expired 2019).
As a bankrupt, Rose was only ordered to pay £250 of the RSPCA’s prosecution costs of £128,554.
