Essex woman appears in court after horses were found starving

A 28-year-old woman has been banned from keeping equines for five years after several horses were discovered by the RSPCA in a poor condition.

The five horses – two Shetland ponies, two thoroughbreds and an Arab – were all given a body condition score of less than 0.5. They were drastically thin and weak and were all signed over by the RSPCA charity.

Fiona Hume pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced to an eight-week jail term, ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and forced to pay more than £300 in fines.

“We were called to the yard in April this year on an entirely separate matter when we came across these horses and ponies. As well as their awful condition, four of the horses had worms and two had skin problems caused by untreated lice,” said the RSPCA Inspector Caroline Richardson.

The horses have made a remarkable recovery and the charity hopes to rehome them now the case has closed.

“To let these horses get into such a shocking state is inexcusable and I hope that they will now go on to live out their days in wonderful, loving homes – with lots of grass to eat and hay to munch,” said Caroline.