Mane suspect: SPCA ‘horrified’ by Grassy Park stable
STEPPED IN: SPCA found unsatisfactory conditions for perde.
A horse trainer from Grassy Park accused of animal cruelty has been bust by the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.
According to a statement by the animal organisation, inspectors were forced to obtain a court order to enter the property after the owner had denied them access to conduct an inspection.
The SPCA received a complaint about horses being kept in poor living conditions.
The complainant also moaned about a strong smell of ammonia, with flies all over because of the vuil living conditions.
SPCA chief inspector Jaco Pieterse said when officers returned on Wednesday with the court order and Law Enforcement officers, a vrou was standing in front of the property and insisted they wait while she called the owner.
“Myself and inspector Jeffrey Mfini did not feel comfortable with this and followed the woman into the property.
“As the woman entered the back property, with the inspectors on her heels, she quickly tried to close the middle gate leading to the back of the property and informed the owner that the SPCA was there.”
He said the owner was kwaad when they arrived as they found that a horse was being tortured: “They were busy training one of their saddle horses – using a cruel and archaic training method.
“The inspectors were horrified by their findings. A saddle horse stallion was found restrained.
“His head had been forced down onto his chest, and his neck was forced into a tight hyper-flexed arched bow and then tied into this unnatural position.
“Tight pieces of rope tied from his bridle, through his bit and on to a roller ensured that the poor animal could neither lift nor lower his head at all, or move it either side to get the smallest respite from this muscle torture.
“The horse had been subjected to this suffering for an extended period of time.”
Pieterse said the animal was drenched in sweat, its veins and blood vessels swollen with exertion.
Upon further investigation, the inspectors found three further saddle horses being kept at the back of the property in unsuitable stables.
Pieterse said the cruel training technique involves the forced, overflexion of the horses’ neck, with the effect of forcing them into an artificial outline demand for competing saddle horses and holding it in that position for long periods.
The owner was arrested and made a brief appearance in Wynberg Court. The case was postponed to Monday and the owner was released on a warning.