How to report a horse welfare concern, neglect or mistreatment

If you’ve come across a sick, injured, abandoned or trapped equine and need to know how to report horse neglect or concern for equine welfare, we’ve outlined the answers to your likely questions and rounded up a range of organisations that will be able to help.

Before you report a welfare concern

Be aware that welfare organisations cannot take second-hand information – and this includes content you’ve seen on social media. Please only report your concerns if you have personally seen the horse yourself.

Once you have reported your concerns to a welfare organisation and they have confirmed that they will be investigating, please do not contact other organisations and charities as this can waste resources that could be directed to another welfare problem.

It’s important to remember that throughout the UK, equines are managed and kept in many different ways. While you may not agree with the way in which they are kept, if their needs are being met and the animal is not suffering, it’s unlikely that welfare organisations will be able to take any action.

If you are unsure as to what constitutes a welfare concern, World Horse Welfare have created a list of different situations and ways they should be reported.

How to report a welfare concern

If you have personally seen a sick, injured, abandoned or trapped equine that you are concerned about, you can contact any of the following organisations, who are all members of the National Equine Welfare Council:

• World Horse Welfare
  worldhorsewelfare.org
  0300 333 6000 (Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm)
• The British Horse Society
  bhs.org.uk
  02476 840517 (Mon–Thurs, 8:35am–5pm, Fridays 8:35am–3 pm)
• Bransby Horses
  bransbyhorses.co.uk
  01427 787369 (Mon–Fri, 8.30am–4.30pm)
• Redwings Horse Sanctuary
  redwings.org.uk
  01508 481008 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
• HAPPA (North of England only)
  happa.org.uk
  01282 455992 (Mon–Sun, 11am–4pm)
• Retraining of Racehorses (former racehorses only)
  ror.org.uk
  01488 648998 (Mon–Sun, 9am–4pm)
• The Donkey Sanctuary (donkeys and mules only)
  thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk
  01395 578222 (Mon-Fri, 8.30am–4.30pm)

Useful information for reporting a concern

• Why you are concerned
• Horse details – number, colour, sex (if known), age (if known)
• Name of owner and/or landowner (if known)
• The location of the horse – a What3Words location is perfect if you don’t have the full address and postcode.
• Photos – if you can take pictures of the horse safely and without trespassing
• Your contact details – these will be kept confidential and if you wish to remain anonymous this will be respected. If you wish to report anonymously, it’s easier to do so via phone rather than an online form.

How to report an urgent case of equine neglect

If you come across a horse in immediate danger – for example, collapsed and unable to stand, trapped in a ditch or tangled in fencing, or unable to weight bear – call one of the following organisations depending on your location:

• RSPCA (England and Wales): rspca.org.uk or 0300 1234 999
• SPCA (Scotland): scottishspca.org or 03000 999 999
• USPCA (Northern Ireland): uspca.co.uk or 028 3025 1000

How to report a loose horse

If you find loose horses on the road, call 101 and inform the police immediately, giving the road number and location. If you feel there is an immediate danger to road users call 999.

Should I intervene with a horse I’m concerned about?

It may be tempting to feed or care for a horse that you believe is not being tended to properly, but this is something that welfare organisations strongly advise against.

Reasons for this include:

• You may overfeed the horse or feed them something that could make them very ill or even kill them
• The owner may be less inclined to take responsibility for future care
• Providing care may prevent action from being taken to secure long-term improvement

By reporting your concern to a welfare organisation, they will be able to determine the best course of action when considering the horse’s welfare, and follow the appropriate procedure in relation to the law.

Should I share a welfare concern on social media?

Welfare organisations would advise against sharing a post that you’ve seen on social media for a number of reasons. Social media content can be exaggerated, out of date or misinformed and it’s possible that sharing it could also be detrimental to the rescue of a horse or counterproductive to any potential action against the person responsible.

The sharing of images on social media could warn a neglectful or abusive owner that they have been reported and therefore likely to be visited, which could cause them to remove their horse or temporarily improve their care. In these cases, it can leave organisations unable to find the horses or unable to remove them due to the increased standards of care.

Organisations may also have been working to develop communication with owners in order to gain access to their horses. When these owners feel publicly criticised, however, they’re likely to cut these lines of communication.

If you see concerning images or videos of horses in distress on social media, encourage the person who originally took the photos to report their concern to a welfare organisation (as explained above) and remove the images so that the owner in question is not alerted prior to an investigation.

Should I report a neglected horse I’ve seen on social media?

In short, no. Welfare organisations are only able to act on reports of concern that you have witnessed first hand. Although you would mean well in doing so, it can unintentionally and significantly hinder the organisation’s ability to respond.

Malcolm Morley, Director of UK at World Horse Welfare explains further.

“We know that everyone who contacts World Horse Welfare with concerns about a horse does so because they care and want to do the right thing. We value that enormously and without people speaking up, many horses would never come to our attention.

The charity are seeing increasing numbers of photos and clips posted online with a caption urging others to report it, which results in charities receiving dozens of reports about the same situation in a short space of time.

“I completely understand why people do it. From the outside it feels like everyone is rallying round horses that need help. But from the inside, it can jam the system at the very moment it needs to work quickly,” Malcolm warns.

• For unlimited access to advice on how best to care for your horse, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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