CONVICTED 2017) | Julia Nall, born c. 1969, and daughter Rachel Nall, born c. 1994, both of New Street, Measham, Swadlincote DE12 7JN – left horses to die in their own faeces
Julia and Rachel Nall had left two horses to rot while the four horses left alive were so malnourished one was suffering from pneumonia.
RSPCA inspectors said one horse was so badly decomposed they could not establish a cause of death, in the worst case of its kind they had ever seen.
A piebald colt called Storm, belonging to Julia Nall’s son Simon Nall, who was prosecuted separately and convicted, also died while two bay mares, Twinkle and Poppy, a grey gelding called Bugs and Dotty, a Shetland mare, were starved.
The Nalls admitted unnecessary suffering by failing to explore and address the cause of the horses’ poor bodily conditions at their stable in Overseal, South Derbyshire.
The RSPCA was contacted after the decomposing bodies of two horses were found in the stable in a field.
RSPCA inspector Laura Bryant, who investigated, said: ‘I have never seen a horse in such a bad way before. ‘One of the horses in the stable was so decomposed and rotting that we could not establish how he died.
‘The other horse, named Storm, had died more recently and we were able to establish through a post-mortem examination that he had died as a result of emaciation.
‘He was in such a bad way before he died – he had untreated laminitis, was lying in his own faeces and his hooves were severely deformed, as they had overgrown by around nine inches.
‘It was terrible to see. On top of that, the stable was completely filled with faeces and was not a suitable environment for horses to be kept in.’
The four surviving horses were assessed by a vet, where they were all found to be in poor body condition as a result of not having enough food.
Inspector Bryant added: ‘The horses were being fed, but only small amounts of hay and not enough to sustain healthy body weights.
‘As a result, they began to suffer because of the effects of emaciation.
‘Horses are expensive animals to look after and it is so important that people realise just how much they can cost.
‘In this case, Julia Nall and Rachel Nall were not able to afford to keep six horses, which resulted in them all suffering.
‘Keeping horses is an incredible privilege however we hope that this case highlights how demanding equine-care can be.’
The four surviving horses have all since recovered and have been re-homed.
Sentencing: 18-week custodial sentence suspended for two years; ordered to pay £500. Lifetime ban on keeping equines.