# Police horse blinded by firework



## Equi (6 November 2015)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...inded-by-firework-at-anti-austerity-demo.html

Disgusting abuse of animals all in the name of protest.


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## Goldenstar (6 November 2015)

Poor boy I hope it's not going to cost him his life .
Time to knock bonfire night on the head .If it becomes a magnet for these appalling thugs and you cant deny it's an anti catholic festival and would not be allowed if say Muslims effigys where being burned .
And fireworks are dangerous on so many levels .


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## D66 (6 November 2015)

Time to insist that protestors don't wear masks, I think.


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## Equi (6 November 2015)

Protests always seem to end in violence. I know it's a right but what about the right to be bloody safe. Anyone living in London can't go out when these things are happening. 

So many reports of firework abuse let night. It's beyond a joke. Home explosives are banned why on earth are over the counter ones not ;(


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## Equi (6 November 2015)

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/109702


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## splashgirl45 (6 November 2015)

I signed the petition that was on here and have just read the response.....what rubbish these people write , they have said they will not be changing the fireworks regulations as they think most people abide by the rules...what a joke!!!!!!  it makes me mad!!!!!!!  if fireworks were not freely available this poor police horse would not have his painful  injuries which may be life threatening


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## DD (6 November 2015)

I too have signed and had the response. Unbelievable ,apparently they arnt too loud!!!!!!!!!!!!! and theresa curfew on their use. And of course, everyone uses them responsibly.


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## DD (6 November 2015)

The army needs to be called in with tanks against these protesters.


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## scotlass (6 November 2015)

Lets hope that anyone who caused injury or endangerment to either a police horse or an officer is identified and made an example of.

From the BBC, a list of those injured (plus Embassy's rider, who has a broken wrist after falling off)

&#9726;Embassy has injuries to his face, fetlock and front leg
&#9726;Illustrious has an injury to his eye, believed to have been caused by a stick
&#9726;Quartz has an injury on his hind leg believed to have been caused by glass
&#9726;Qwerty has been hurt on his hind quarters
&#9726;Heather has a cut to her fetlock on her hind leg
&#9726;Quixote has injuries to his front legs


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## Equi (6 November 2015)

The gov response is ridiculous. But I have experience of them and they respond to everyone saying nothing will happen unless you get 100k. They post the negative response so people think it's a lost cause and don't sign. 

So keep sharing! Keep signing!


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## paddy555 (6 November 2015)

more to the point why are we using horses to police full stop? I think the days of people having respect for animals is long gone. If protesters are going to behave like this, and they have perfect right to protest, then the answer must be armoured vehicles for everyone's safety. 
Fireworks could be solved very quickly by needing a council permit to have a display and the purchasers needing similar vetting as we need for firearms certificates. Health and safety to the fore!!  Their sale would only be for organised displays direct from the manufacturer.
If the organisers caused safety issues they would loose their licence.


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## skint1 (6 November 2015)

Every time I think of those poor horses it makes my eyes well up. Sad to say, maybe horses should not be used to patrol protests, people seem to be incapable of conducting themselves with a minim of human decency these days


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## SpringArising (6 November 2015)

paddy555 said:



			more to the point why are we using horses to police full stop? I think the days of people having respect for animals is long gone.
		
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Those were my only thoughts too. 

If you don't want the horses to get hurt, don't take them to a bloody riot. What did they expect?


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (6 November 2015)

Poor poor horses.

Unfortunately, with nasty stuff like this happening, looks like the days of police horses are numbered .............. 

T'will be a sad day indeed though.


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## popsdosh (6 November 2015)

Goldenstar said:



			Poor boy I hope it's not going to cost him his life .
Time to knock bonfire night on the head .If it becomes a magnet for these appalling thugs and you cant deny it's an anti catholic festival and would not be allowed if say Muslims effigys where being burned .
And fireworks are dangerous on so many levels .
		
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It had nothing to do with bonfire night!! It was an anti capitalist rally again. They dont care.


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## popsdosh (6 November 2015)

Digger66 said:



			Time to insist that protestors don't wear masks, I think.
		
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Very true !!! these protesters are so brave when they can hide behind the mask

.Perhaps the thread title is misleading as it appears none of the injuries to horses were caused by fireworks in the first place

I know I will be swimming against the tide here ,but horses are still a very effective means of controlling a crowd ,do you really think the Met use them just because they look pretty. I am afraid if you dont believe horses should do this work why should we as society expect others to do it for us and not have the tools they think are the right ones.


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## paddy555 (6 November 2015)

popsdosh said:



			maybe they are an effective way but to me that doesn't mean it is the right way in this sort of situation. Yes I expect the police to police and I expect them to have the necessary tools. I just don't think putting horses in this situation, where they could be seriously hurt, is the right tool. What right to we have to expect horses to have lasers  shone in their faces and fireworks thrown at them? Is that what a civilised society expects for their animals whether they look pretty or not?
		
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## olop (6 November 2015)

Disgusting! Fireworks should be banned except at public displays been saying it got years


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## Equi (6 November 2015)

I dont think this scenario was correct for horses but they play a vital role in other places and they are still needed for display etc. I'd be sad to see them go.


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## hairycob (6 November 2015)

Has anybody noticed that in the police press release none of the horses was blinded let alone by a firework. Horrid that they were injured but also a lesson in why it's important to not instantly believe everything in the press.


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## chillipup (6 November 2015)

paddy555 said:



			maybe they are an effective way but to me that doesn't mean it is the right way in this sort of situation. Yes I expect the police to police and I expect them to have the necessary tools. I just don't think putting horses in this situation, where they could be seriously hurt, is the right tool. What right to we have to expect horses to have lasers  shone in their faces and fireworks thrown at them? Is that what a civilised society expects for their animals whether they look pretty or not?
		
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But it's OK to expect our police officers to be put in this situation, where they can get seriously hurt and sometimes even killed!!!? On this basis would you like our police to stop using police dogs too? 

And you think we live in a civilised society?


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## chillipup (6 November 2015)

oops duplicate


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## chillipup (6 November 2015)

hairycob said:



			Has anybody noticed that in the police press release none of the horses was blinded let alone by a firework. Horrid that they were injured but also a lesson in why it's important to not instantly believe everything in the press.
		
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Yep, that's the media for you. Situations do change by the hour and so does the reporting.


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## popsdosh (6 November 2015)

chillipup said:



			Yep, that's the media for you. Situations do change by the hour and so does the reporting.
		
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To be fair to the sun in the link put up by the OP nowhere did it mention horses being directly injured by fireworks . I think maybe posters on here misinterpreted the photo without reading the article .Just to be clear there is no mention of horse being blinded either perhaps the OP is looking for a job with the Sun.


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## chillipup (6 November 2015)

popsdosh said:



			To be fair to the sun in the link put up by the OP nowhere did it mention horses being directly injured by fireworks . I think maybe posters on here misinterpreted the photo without reading the article .Just to be clear there is no mention of horse being blinded either perhaps the OP is looking for a job with the Sun.
		
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Yep, quite agree popsdosh.


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## YorksG (7 November 2015)

chillipup said:



			But it's OK to expect our police officers to be put in this situation, where they can get seriously hurt and sometimes even killed!!!? On this basis would you like our police to stop using police dogs too? 

And you think we live in a civilised society?
		
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While I absolutely endorse the final sentence of this post, the main difference for me, is that people can choose to become police officers, with full knowledge of the risks, they make an informed decision to persue that career, the horses do not make an informed choice to take those risks.


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## chillipup (7 November 2015)

YorksG said:



			While I absolutely endorse the final sentence of this post, the main difference for me, is that people can choose to become police officers, with full knowledge of the risks, they make an informed decision to persue that career, the horses do not make an informed choice to take those risks.
		
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We as humans, have bred specific horses to do certain jobs, so in this respect do you think race horses have the option of making an informed choice? No, neither do horses that are evented, show jumped, used for dressage, driving etc etc.....

We use horses for our benefit, not for theirs.


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## popsdosh (7 November 2015)

chillipup said:



			We as humans, have bred specific horses to do certain jobs, so in this respect do you think race horses have the option of making an informed choice? No, neither do horses that are evented, show jumped, used for dressage, driving etc etc.....

We use horses for our benefit, not for theirs.
		
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Totally agree and lets be totally honest they are some of the best looked after and trained equines in this world. Testament to that is the rider who was thrown off and broke their wrist still running after their horse and I am sure more worried of its welfare than their own.
I dont see anybody who has horses themselves can criticise using them in this way we all use them in some way alien to their natural life.


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## Beausmate (7 November 2015)

I wonder if they we're expecting things to get that bad?  The horses were hardly wearing full riot gear, some didn't even have back boots on, when you normally see them fully booted up and wearing those padded quarter sheets.  Do they have chest protection too, or am I thing of US police horses?


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## Pigeon (7 November 2015)

I think they said blinded as in the context of "blinded by the low sunlight whilst driving" to explain why he was freaked out, rather than his eyes physically damaged. I really hope that is the case, anyway


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## Regandal (7 November 2015)

Beausmate said:



			I wonder if they we're expecting things to get that bad?  The horses were hardly wearing full riot gear, some didn't even have back boots on, when you normally see them fully booted up and wearing those padded quarter sheets.  Do they have chest protection too, or am I thing of US police horses?
		
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Going by the photo in the link, they're not wearing much protection at all.  They use the horses up here in Scotland at the big football matches, and they go out in visors etc.   I digress, I recently passed a horse transporter on the motorway.  It was police horses, it had the chequered markings along the bottom of the lorry.  That amused me for some reason. Panda wagon.


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## chillipup (7 November 2015)

During the protest, fireworks were thrown, horse panicked, threw rider. Rider suffered broken wrist.


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## garryd1000 (8 November 2015)

Hi everyone, I'm new to this but would like to highlight a petition which you might be interested please sign and share, enough is enough. 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/109702


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## garryd1000 (8 November 2015)

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/109702

Please sign and share.


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## fatpiggy (10 November 2015)

equi said:



			Protests always seem to end in violence. I know it's a right but what about the right to be bloody safe. Anyone living in London can't go out when these things are happening. 

So many reports of firework abuse let night. It's beyond a joke. Home explosives are banned why on earth are over the counter ones not ;(
		
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I have no problem with people protesting, but the masked ones are invariably professional trouble makers who turn up specifically to fight with the authorities.  A bit like Chelsea fans - they only go for the fights, not the matches.  Ironically half of the rebels turn out to be from wealthy backgrounds who haven't ever had to work to achieve anything!  

I've never understood why students stage sit-ins and protests within Universities regarding fees - the staff don't set the fees!  When I was a student there was a sit-in in the central admin offices and that meant the Library had to close - just 3 weeks before my finals. Great.  What was it all about?  Some students had thrown gloss paint and eggs over a guest speaker at the Union because they didn't agree with his politics (he was member of the Cabinet I think) and got sent down for it. Cue the protestors nearly ruining it for everyone.


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