Loose horses

[maggie]

Roger and I were late for work this morning. As we were driving in, we saw 2 loose horses wondering along the road, having escaped from a roadside field. They were crossing and re-crossing the busy road, a main route into the town centre and just yards away from the fast ring-road. I phoned the police who said they were already aware, so we stopped the traffic and managed to turn the horses into a lane without accidents. Someone else stopped, she knew whose horses they were and rang the owner. The horses were temporarily safe, and the other person and someone coming from the other end of the lane said they could keep them there until the owner arrived, so we went back to the car for me to try and make the next train. At this point the owner turned up, so we told him where to find his lost horses.

Three thing really upset me:
1. the only secure thing about the field the horses had come from was the padlocked gate, the fencing was intermittent with a ridiculously gappy hedge.

2. the owner, for those of you familiar with organisations such as Equine Market Watch, was Hannibal Harker - grrr.

3. all this time, there was no sign of the police! The potential for a major accident and they couldn't even be bothered to turn out, it just makes me so angry.

[NFK Dumpling]

I think its because a lot of policemen are scared of large animals - I don't think they get any training to deal with them.

[Debbie]

Incredibly frustrating for you, but thank goodness you and Roger stopped to help out I bet those horses would thank you if they could.

I feel the same way about the blaise attitude with the police, but I think Amanda's right. They don't seem to receive any form of training regarding them, and a lot of city dwellers are frightened of large animals. Shame they want to wait til an accident occurs before they respond

[maggie]

That's the worrying part Debbie, these 2 mares were substantial animals, a bay of around 14hh and a piebald of about 15.2hh, both hefty cobs. Not only could these poor horses have been hurt, people could so easily be killed or injured hitting something as big as these, especially at the time of day when everyone is on their way to work. The thought of what would have happened if they had got onto the ring road makes my blood run cold.

'I was a bit frightened and haven't had any training' would be scant consolation to grieving relatives!

[Debbie]

Does anyone know if the police have training sessions with the horses?? I know in the US they were having a huge push for weekend training sessions with officers. Sadly it was dealing with horses that had been in trailering accidents, but still the training is valid.

And as you point out Maggie ~ that's an awfully large animal to be hitting! Sadness of the horses being harmed aside, they can do such extensive damage to a car, and certainly kill or injure the driver and passengers.

Here we go www.eeru.org/training.htm This is one of the training courses I was referring to. This is open to the general public as well as those First Responders like emergency workers, firefighters and police. I know its the basics, but honestly having the basics and knowing how to be as safe as you possibly can around a horse in a stress scenario is a HUGE first step!

[harveydales]

This sort of thing makes me mad too. I've witnessed a couple of incidents of stray horses on a main road but luckily all ended well. Actually, the police tound here are very good about this sort of thing. We've had cattle and horses (not ours, I should add) out on the roads a few times and the police did a good job rounding them up with help from passers by.

When we drive on the motorways I often shudder when I see the poor state of some of the fencing supposed to keep the animals contained. I'm suprised there aren't more accidents caused this way...........

[SuzieP]

I once found a very large pig wandering down a small country lane - cars go very fast down the lane and there are several blind bends. Not knowing the phone number of the local police I dialled 999 and got told off in no uncertain terms by the operator because she said it wasn't an emergency. I said "it might be if a car comes round the corner and hits it" and she told me to phone the local police - when I told her I didn't have the number she rattled it off and hung up. I had fortunately memorised the number (why couldn't she have just put me through...) and phoned it. Fortunately they understood and sent a local bobby to help me round the pig up and get it into a field. Ever tried herding a pig??? LOL LOL

There just doesn't seem to be any understanding of what can happen if a car hits a large animal at speed. Deer are a huge hazard around here and a car that has hit even a small deer comes off very badly indeed (but not as badly as the deer in most cases, sadly).

[DalesLady]

that is awful, as you say its the lack of concern generally on the part of the police which would worry me too and the lack of concern the owner has for the safety of his animals. Makes me really mad!

[DalesLady]

oh and if the police cannot handle them, then why is there not a number they can ring and a team of handlers can be sent to the scene.

Perhaps an organisation should be set up for this sort of thing, it would be like the RNLI or Mountain Rescue but for animals, then the police wouldn't have to be scared and people trained to handle animals in the best way would be effective too.

[jonib]

I hope you will all forgive me but I have to defend the Police here.

I work in Sussex in the control room and we do respond to calls regarding any loose animals on the roads,especially on or near busy or main roads. On occasions we do not have a free unit to send,as occurs with a variety of urgent response calls,and it ccertainly isnt because the Police either dont care or are scared of larger animals.
It is in fact a serious cause of frustration at the poor standard of some fencing taking police resources which could otherwise be dealing with the other incidents people complain we take ages to get to.

I obviously cant answer for all forces but did just want to update you all that we certainly dont all disregard these calls.

And re putting 999 calls through..It cant be done as they are on a dedicated line intended solely to be answered by the relevant emergency service control room.

But having said all that I totally understand peoples frustrations,and would be equally fed up myself if I had no help to deal with a potentially dangerous situation.

There..I will shut up now

[Debbie]

But it does help to hear from the polices' side too! It must be incredibly frustrating to not have enough hours to tend to all the different calls.

I've been on more than one cattle, horse and pig round up....LOL, and yes SuzieP, pig herding is something to be experienced ;D isn't it? ;D

I just wish there were someway to get people to mend their fences properly. In our areas, I'm dismayed at the fencing that some people have...... sagging, drooping barbed wire and stock fencing that most cows let alone horses could just step over. I marvel that the animals stay in most times.

The sad part is, the owners refuse to (or cannot afford to) upgrade their fencing. The opinion of 'it ain't broke, so don't fix it' doesn't exactly fly. Especially this time of year when the grazing is incredibly poor.

A dedicated response team to round up stray livestock would be brilliant, but I wonder how much demand there would be for it?

[DalesLady]

all good points jonib and debbie and all noted

[SuzieP]

Yes - it really is good to hear an "inside" view - thanks Jonib. I was just upset that the operator was so officious with me. Isn't there a number the public can call now for non-emergency calls to the police....101 I think? Or has it been shelved?

[jonib]

I had to look that one up.Only a few forces use that it seems.
Sussex has a single non emergency number and the calls are taken in a central room(yes..a dreaded call centre...lol) and passed to the relevant station or control room if it needs a response that day rather than a slower resolution. To be honest we take calls on the 9's re loose animals all the time and would never redirect such calls.......and its a shame you had an officious person. However I have to say there are times I have been a bit short with people when its really busy and they call 999 to ask for a light bulb to be changed , or kids are making a noise in a playground etc etc.....you have to hear some to believe them.... :-)
And then you get the people who say sorry to bother you and not sure this is right number..then go on to tell you they have been victim of some awful crimes! It truly is amazing.

I am so glad everyone took my input in the spirit it was intended!

[dalesponyrider]

I appreciate that the police are doing a very difficult job and certainly take your input in good spirit jonib. It is difficult for the public too though. The number we ALL know for the police is 999. If we are out and about and see a loose animal then I for one would have no idea of the local police number and would call 999, especially if I were travelling in a different part of the country. I would expect to be dealt with courteously and efficiently. After all, I could drive on and leave an accident waiting to happen behind.