Teeny Tiny Tony neglected
by Kent woman. Picture: RSPCA

by Jo Earle

Desperate owners are being forced to
give up their horses amid spiralling care costs.

Now a Canterbury horse rescue
centre says it is coming under increasing pressure just to keep up
with the influx of new animals.

Canterbury Horse Rescue Centre in
Faversham says it has dealt with 75% more calls over the past two
months.

It's because more owners and
breeders are finding they can't provide a good level
of care for them and can't sell in a declining market.

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Stella King, from the charity, said
people simply can't afford to look after the animals: "If you have
an animal you know it needs to be fed, you have a responsibility
for that animal.

"Why do people want to see a skeleton?
Why do people want to see something on its knees dying?

"It's not cheap to keep a pony, let
alone a horse. People don't realise how expensive it is to keep a
horse now. Hay bills have increased as well as vet bills."

She said
people bred horses because they thought they could make money from
it.

But the market for foals and
young stock was declining because of the recession.

She added: "The horse is then going to
get older and sit in a field and gain little value.

"I can't always take every person's
horse when they ring me up and ask to take on a horse.

"If I do this charity will have to
close - because it can no longer afford to feed the animals which
are in our care."

And it's not just in Canterbury: the
RSPCA in the South East says it has had a higher number of calls
about dumped or abandoned horses in January and February - compared
to the same time last year.

RSPCA chief inspector in the South
East Cathy Hyde said: "People who have made a living from breeding
and selling horses are failing to acknowledge that the animals'
value has dropped and they keep breeding, although they have
nowhere to keep the horses.