‘Pony With No Name’ Finds New Home In Wrexham Rescue Centre

A little foal, seized under the Control of Horses (Wales) A 2014, has found a new home in a Wrexham rescue centre.

The H.A.C.K.(Horse Aid Care & Knowledge) horse sanctuary which is based in Wrexham, has this week received a new resident on the yard. He is very young approx five months old colt, which is underweight, has a heavy worm burden and lice infestation. He is also suffering with bad rain scald on his spine.

The latest rescue, seized under the Control of Horses (Wales) Act 2014 in South Wales arrived this week. Time was running out for the very young coloured colt, but luckily H.A.C.K. had re-homed a pony a few weeks earlier and we now had space to take him in.

This young colt, which is yet to be named, wasn’t micro chipped or passported and was left on land that had been used as a rubbish site, it was impossible to trace an owner. So once again the lack of identification is highlighted, it is important to be able to trace owners who mistreat animals so we do need a more robust system of identification.

H.A.C.K. is a registered charity 1025157 and also a full welfare Member of The National Equine Welfare Council. The charity has been operating for 23 years, and is run entirely by volunteers who not only look after the equine on a daily basis but also have to continually organize and run fundraising events to raise the very necessary funds to keep the charity running.

The charity also closely with Wrexham County Boroughs, Animal Health and Welfare section of the Public Protection Department. They have come to rely on our help, assistance and guidance when incidents of Equine Welfare are discovered. We are now working with other Welsh Local Authorities along with other sanctuaries due to the number of incidents throughout Wales.

Jane Lloyd who volunteers at the sanctuary said: “The Control of Horse’s (Wales) Act, has helped in this particular case and many others, and we were pleased to be able to offer him a home, but, here at the sanctuary both myself and the founder of H.A.C.K. Pamela Bluck worry about the whole crisis in the horse welfare sector as this legislation isn’t statutory, generally there is little or no financial assistance to the local authorities here in Wales, and as horses and ponies are regularly being neglected and left without food and water many, many, more will suffer greatly as a result.

“We accept it was a gigantic step forward when Wales introduced the Legislation and we certainly showed England the way forward. We would like to see the Act become a Statutory Duty for Local Authorities and for them to be properly resourced to enforce the Act.

“We would also suggest that criminal offences should be stated within the legislation so if owners can be identified prosecutions can be taken by Local Authorities so dealing with individual incidents but also to act as deterrent for others. We did attempt to highlight these issues at the time of writing the Bill but they were overlooked.”

H.A.C.K currently has 16 equine living on the site at present, with many more out on loan and others in ‘forever homes.

Jane added: “We are a small charity, with 16 equine on site at the moment, and many more out on loan, some in forever homes. We are committed to rescue, rehabilitation and education, and part of our programme is the re-homing of the equine where possible, as well as educating potential horse owners in the responsibilities of ownership of such an animal.

“Our education programme also supports local children and adults who want to learn more about the care of the horse and wish to partake in H.A.C.K. Basic care and welfare programmes which is supported by the local authorities and Prof. Derek Knottenbelt who came along specially to present certificates to those who had passed the exams.

“The Saturday kids club are looking forward to meeting the new little man, and choosing a name for him from our on-line competition.”

More information can be found on our website www.hackhorse.org.uk or donations can be made at http://www.justgiving.com/hackhorse/