Decomposing body of horse left lying just feet from family home near Harborough for almost a month

A furious dad has hit out after a dead horse was left lying just feet from his home in a village near Market Harborough for almost a month.

The villager told the Harborough Mail it was “truly shocking” that the seriously-decomposing foal lay for over three weeks by his back garden on Theddingworth Road, Husbands Bosworth.

“It is disgusting and it’s shocking," said the man, who asked not to be named.

“I can’t believe that the owner of these poor horses left this young pony to lie there for more than three weeks.

“It was hot and sunny last week and this poor little horse was just left to lie where he’d dropped.

“I’ve got three young children and the last thing we wanted was them seeing this terribly sad sight.

“This dead horse was stretched out just 10 feet from our garden.

“And the stench and the flies obviously posed a serious hygiene problem to all of us, especially when it got hotter,” said the father-of-three.

“I repeatedly asked the horse owner to have this dead animal loaded up and taken away to be properly disposed of.

“But for what ever reason he didn’t do it.

“I wouldn’t care but we’ve had four or five horses die here in the last three months alone.

“This is totally unacceptable.

“There are about 30 horses on this land near us.

“They have hardly any grass to eat, there are poisonous plants like ragwort in there and they are not looked after at all.

“There is a lot of neglect and outright cruelty here.

“I’ve contacted all the usual agencies such as the RSPCA, local council and Trading Standards officers,” he said.

“But I didn’t get anywhere and the official response was pathetic until I posted this sorry tale up on Facebook last week.

“And then funnily enough the dead foal was carted away pretty quickly after that.

“I’ve had excellent support from a lady who operates a horse rescue mission nearby.

“So I’d like to thank her too.”

Shelley Page, who runs the self-funded Next Chapter animal rescue service, told the Mail: “This man did call me and I was only too pleased to try to help him out.

“It’s heart-breaking that this horse has died – and just been left out in the field.

“It’s inhumane and it’s intolerable.

“There is no excuse for this sort of behaviour,” said Shelley, who’s based at Countesthorpe.

“Horses and animals should be looked after properly.

“I’ve got 35 horses on 26 acres of land at our sanctuary and we can take this man’s horses off him if he can’t cope.

“This man should be banned from keeping animals.

“But I’ll be only too glad to rescue his horses and give them a much better life with us if he contacts me,” said Shelley.

You can find out more about her vital animal refuge The Next Chapter on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/thenextchapterhorses/?_rdr

The owner of the horses in Husbands Bosworth has been asked for a comment but he has not yet responded.