Milton Keynes woman hit with 10-year animal ban after causing unnecessary suffering to horses at Steeple Claydon stable
A Milton Keynes woman has been banned from keeping all animals for 10 years following a prosecution by the RSPCA over the unnecessary suffering of horses and other offences at a stable yard in Steeple Claydon.
Gillian Wallace, aged 53, of Leyburn Court, Milton Keynes, was convicted of three animal welfare offences - two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to two equines after failing to deal with rug rub wounds, and a third concerning a failure to meet the welfare needs of six horses. The failures related to one,or a combination of; inadequate nutrition, insufficient exercise, failng to provide veterinary care as required, a lack of parasite control, and housing a number of the equines in unsuitable, unclean, wet, and boggy conditions.
She was convicted following a part-heard trial at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court which concluded on October 7.
Wallace was also ordered to carry out a 12 month community order of 180 hours unpaid work, and told to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of £5,000.
The trial related to an investigation launched by the RSPCA in 2021, when officers attended a stable yard in Buckinghamshire.
The court heard that horses belonging to Wallace were in a poor condition and that she had insufficient food for all of them.
During sentencing, the District Judge highlighted the state of the fields and fencing and the pitiful state of each of the horses and the small amount of hay/haylage.
Two of the horses also suffered unnecessarily because wounds caused by their rugs had not been treated properly. The court was told that with proper management the wounds may not have occurred. When they did, the provision of veterinary treatment could have allieviated pain.
The court heard horses had no real grazing available in their muddy poached fields and no supplementary feed. One of the horses kept in a stable also did not have adequate food
A failure to provide an adequate diet was the key cause of the six horses’ poor body condition, according to a vet. A number of the horses also had lice and scabbing.
A second defendant, Cheryl Shepperd, aged 26, of North End Road, Steeple Claydon was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a horse called Storm by failing to investigate and address the causes of his poor body condition and weight loss. She was given a £120 fine and ordered to pay £600 costs and a victim surcharge of £48.
The court was told Shepperd was at a young age at the time of the offence and had learned her lesson and had shown remorse.
Ownership of Wallace’s horses had been granted to the RSPCA following a previous court hearing.