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Post by annas on Jan 8, 2013 10:11:27 GMT 1
I thought it was a bit of an odd program really which didn't give you very much information at all. What was wrong with the sick horses? Was it just worms? What was the issue with the colt that they felt the need to take away? Compared to a lot of cases the RSPCA don't seem to get involved with, these horses looked pretty healthy?? Normally the RSPCA wont go near anyone if they are seen to be feeding and watering the horses which he was doing. So what was different in this case? Was Clwyd just an easy target for them to prosecute. I felt sorry for the guy, he obviously loved the horses and did what he could to look after them. Apart from the area around the house, they seemed to have good ground and grazing and were fed well. I agree that the breeding had to be stopped and the worms sorted out but apart from that did he really do so much wrong?? Michelle had the right idea of helping him, reducing the numbers and sorting out the worming. The RSPCA just portrayed themselves as incompetent. If they thought that program would be good for them it wasn't, it just showed they didn't have a clue!! God knows how they thought they were going to catch that colt by chasing it about and putting ropes up everywhere!! Shame the program didn't tell the whole story, it kind of finished abruptly and didn't really say what happened to Clwyd or the rest of the horses.
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Post by clara81 on Jan 8, 2013 10:29:22 GMT 1
how is it than when we developed 'civilisation' we decided that people have to comply with a one size fits all set of rules. Clwyd seemed to be a man who just doesn't live the way society accepts but he seems settled and at peace with himself. My daughter just said the documentary makes out that the death of his daughter has caused him to have mental illness but maybe that event actually caused him to realise what is really important to him. So instead of taking his ponies away, especially when most of them look better than some people's single animals, why not spend the money the 'rescue' and prosecution cost in worming and gelding them and support him in an effort to rehome them. There are hill ponies and mountain ponies who get considerably less care than his ponies do and nobody seems to be getting prosecuted for breeding and neglecting them. Quite saddened by the 'gung-ho' method of the welfare people handling of the ponies too. Totally agree with this. It's always the same with "animal hoarder" programmes- the people don't live in what we've come to view as "suitable living conditions" so therefore they must be wrong, ill, need help etc. Ok so his house was a tip but to be fair he wasn't ill and he wasn't making anyone else live like that. The RSPCA were just ridiculous and the camo outfit made it look like a spoof! The horses were in good order and looked HAPPY which is more than can be said for an awful lot of horses kept on conventional livery/competition yards. Good luck to Michelle, I hope she can help get the colts down to a more managable level but otherwise good luck to the lot of them!
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Jan 8, 2013 10:53:00 GMT 1
Here is a petition asking for a full investigation into the RSPCA which I believe is long overdue. For example, think how much money, donated by animal lovers to the RSPCA , was wasted on this Court Case , when it could so easily have been put to much better use on a worming and castration program for these horses an ponies. submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43807
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Post by iceberg on Jan 8, 2013 11:06:53 GMT 1
I totally agree, the horses looked really well, the RSPCA made themselves look like blundering, incompatent fools. Yes of course there were issues, but far better to help the bloke like Michelle was trying to, than prosecute him - sometimes I think the RSPCA are so blinkered - each case is different, lots of grey areas and cases should be treated accordingly.
Must admit to laughing when he was in the bath - priceless!
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Post by mandal on Jan 8, 2013 11:08:17 GMT 1
So instead of taking his ponies away, especially when most of them look better than some people's single animals, why not spend the money the 'rescue' and prosecution cost in worming and gelding them and support him in an effort to rehome them. I think this is a very valid and important point. Seems a useless waste of precious resources to me. ps. SS3 do you mean RSPCA rather than RAC? ;D
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Post by cheekychops on Jan 8, 2013 11:09:57 GMT 1
I just found it desperately sad really; he clearly loves his horses but is so blinkered about what he needs to do to care for them properly. I thought Michelle was a bit of a hero really, and very pragmatic with it, I didn't see her motives as cynical. I saw him as an eccentric character who has retreated from a society that he can't find his role in. I felt the programme was just too short to really do the subject justice, a more in-depth study in an hour would have been much more enlightening.
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Post by iceberg on Jan 8, 2013 11:12:19 GMT 1
I agree an hour would have been a lot better - seemd a bit rushed to me. Shame really, I would like to know how they are getting on.
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Post by 2 bays & a grey:D on Jan 8, 2013 12:14:54 GMT 1
I just found it desperately sad really; he clearly loves his horses but is so blinkered about what he needs to do to care for them properly. I thought Michelle was a bit of a hero really, and very pragmatic with it, I didn't see her motives as cynical. I saw him as an eccentric character who has retreated from a society that he can't find his role in. I felt the programme was just too short to really do the subject justice, a more in-depth study in an hour would have been much more enlightening. I agree. I felt sad for him. He is just a lost soul living his life with animals whom he deeply loves. The RSPCA yet again did a shocking job! Sent from my GT-I9100 using proboards
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Post by Catrin on Jan 8, 2013 14:34:07 GMT 1
… how much money, donated to … the RAC, was wasted … , when it could so easily have been put to much better use on a worming and castration … Makes me glad I'm with the AA
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Post by lawyerbunny on Jan 8, 2013 14:57:13 GMT 1
I watched this with a heavy heart. The scenes of the RSPCA chasing and wrestling that poor pony about the place very nearly reduced me to tears. A youngster like that will have a hard enough time finding a home. Now that it’s terrified of people and headshy, what chance does it have left? Well done RSPCA… If anyone does e-mail them, asking what happened to the pony would be interesting!
And don’t get me started on the prosecution. The RSPCA seem to have seriously lost their way.
I felt a huge amount of sympathy for the subject of the film. I’m not sure it’s right to describe him as a ‘hoarder’, though. He obviously loves those horses tremendously but struggles to cope, particularly with controlling breeding which has led the numbers to increase and compounded the problem. I too felt the programme ended without letting you feel you understood the story, and didn't quite do it justice.
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Post by dalesfan on Jan 8, 2013 15:03:35 GMT 1
I've seen horses in much worse conditions anywhere from moorland to private yards, yet no one seems to intervene. Clwyd was struggling to cope, but he was feeding his horses, showed only gentleness to them and was being helped by Michelle to bring the situation under control. Why persecute a vulnerable man who was clearly damaged by personal tragedy? Surely it would have been better to help and support him, as Michelle continues to do. Shame on the RSPCA....the only cruelty I saw in this programme came from them.
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Post by Dragonmaster on Jan 8, 2013 15:06:40 GMT 1
I would really like one of the cob youngsters to bring up alongside Red, and be ready for when Rosie is retired. But I have 4 horses (2 that I can't ride) and have not the time or money for any more. Anyone want to take my Muffin (chestnut pony, below) as a pet?
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dianne
Advanced Poster
Posts: 327
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Post by dianne on Jan 8, 2013 15:32:44 GMT 1
I would love to see Michelle made head of the RSPCA, she showed she has everything they are lacking, common sense, compassion, wit, buisness sense, knowledge and a very kind heart
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Jan 8, 2013 20:29:09 GMT 1
8-)Whoops Mandal thanks . Post now amended. I was very cross when I posted ------------------still am .
I remember a huge scandal in the 60's about the RSPCA misappropriating funds . Seems nothing has changed.----------
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Post by lizpurlo on Jan 8, 2013 20:45:07 GMT 1
SS, I'd sign that petition if I could, but the link isn't working - or is it just me?
I shall definitely write /email the RSPCA. Just thinking about the tranquiliser dart - they always remind me of a programme I used to watch called Daktari, set in Africa, where they always seemed to be shooting lions and so on with tranq darts....! Presumably they would cause much less stress to a predator who has no built-in fear of being trapped and helpless, whereas for a prey animal, the feeling of losing power and consciousness must invariably be accompanied by fear for its life. Which must be why, whenever I've seen this method of capture on the TV (and it's usually the RSPCA at the helm), the victim always appears to be in a pitiful state of panic and terror, fighting the anaesthetic for all it's worth. And there's usually a bunch of uniformed plonkers, all shouting 'WOWOWOWO' just to keep the adrenaline levels at max........
But hey, this is the RSPCA, so it MUST be all right, mustn't it?
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