# Birmingham Council charging owners of impoundedtethered horses £2000 for their return



## darkhorse123 (8 November 2011)

Agree or disagree ?

I think its wonderful - hate seeing them tethered and wish it was a national law.

Amazed to see one horse welfare group are against it ?


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## stencilface (8 November 2011)

Going to need lots of land to keep that up - can't imagine many people will stump up the cash.  I don't mind seeing horses tethered if well looked after.  Its not the way I'd keep a horse, but also I wouldn't kepe a horse in a stable 24/7 - people do things differently.  Most tethered horses I have met (lots of them on my sites) are generally pretty well mannered and friendly - so not all the owners will be ogres


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## rascal (11 November 2011)

Which horse welfare group are against it?


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## Hairy Old Cob (11 November 2011)

Well we all know who the owners are and sure as eggs are eggs they wont be paying 2 grand to get their Osses back so what wil BCC do then


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## darkhorse123 (11 November 2011)

rascal said:



			Which horse welfare group are against it?
		
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VANNAH - on my fb and very much against it


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## darkhorse123 (11 November 2011)

Hairy Old Cob said:



			Well we all know who the owners are and sure as eggs are eggs they wont be paying 2 grand to get their Osses back so what wil BCC do then 

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according ot VANNAH many have paid?


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## SusannaF (12 November 2011)

Two grand = more than most horses in the UK are worth, surely?


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## Miss L Toe (12 November 2011)

Is this legal? and how did they decide on £2000?
How will  owners identify their horses?
What will they do now?


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## Pebble101 (12 November 2011)

MrsD123 said:



			How will  owners identify their horses?
		
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Passports


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## stormhorse (12 November 2011)

its Sandwell Council thats doing this & the bailiffs are removing the horses (but after they have left notices for the horse to be removed) was speaking to a friend who knows the owner of one of the horses & he did have to pay £2000 to get him back but had had notices left for him to remove the horse from the land.

I also have info from friends that these horses are used for illegal road racing (trotting races) & that in at least one case the winner picked up £500.


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## Paint Me Proud (12 November 2011)

yes owners are given multiple notices to move the horse of public land before they are taken by bailiffs .
I think £2000 is a good idea as it is the incentive needed for them to remove the animal before it gets taken.

I dont think it's fair that certain people can just tether their horse where ever they like on public land. The rest of us have to pay for livery and paddocks etc so they should too.


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## rascal (13 November 2011)

darkhorse123 said:



			VANNAH - on my fb and very much against it 

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Why would they be against tethered horses being taken? They are all over parts of the midlands, why shouldnt these people rent grazing like the rest of us have to? What happens to the unclaimed ones, not every owner will have £2000??????????


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## FairyLights (13 November 2011)

They are probably sold at public auction I expect. I think its good news and a good idea. Lets hope other councils follow their example.


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## rascal (13 November 2011)

I think its a good idea maybe Walsall and some others will do the same.


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## Trakehner (14 November 2011)

Good for them.  I remember the article in H&H about the company who is hired to remove "mystery" horses who appear in their fields.  It's a real cat & mouse game to move the horses before the "criminals who must not be named" show up.  I'd love to see a reality show showing these people at work.


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## Pedantic (20 November 2011)

Paint Me Proud said:



			yes owners are given multiple notices to move the horse of public land before they are taken by bailiffs .
I think £2000 is a good idea as it is the incentive needed for them to remove the animal before it gets taken.

I dont think it's fair that certain people can just tether their horse where ever they like on public land. The rest of us have to pay for livery and paddocks etc so they should too.
		
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I agree.


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## MagicMelon (29 November 2011)

Paint Myrrh Proud said:



			yes owners are given multiple notices to move the horse of public land before they are taken by bailiffs .
I think £2000 is a good idea as it is the incentive needed for them to remove the animal before it gets taken.

I dont think it's fair that certain people can just tether their horse where ever they like on public land. The rest of us have to pay for livery and paddocks etc so they should too.
		
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Ditto.  Up here in Scotland I've never once seen a horse randomly tethered on public land, I guess down in England you get a lot more of it.  If they get told to move it and dont, then why shouldnt action be taken.


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## Miss L Toe (29 November 2011)

MagicMelon said:



			Ditto.  Up here in Scotland I've never once seen a horse randomly tethered on public land, I guess down in England you get a lot more of it.  If they get told to move it and dont, then why shouldnt action be taken.
		
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In bonnie scotland we do have a few travellers but no legacy of ponies being tethered, I suppose the fairies would take them in the night.


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## scullysdad (4 December 2011)

If it is public land then why shouldn't anyone tether their horse there - ain't doing any harm - probably saving the council money by cutting the grass for them! 

God, some people are so far up there own asses they lose sight of the light!


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## criptic (4 December 2011)

2 grand! pretty steep huh!?


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## darkhorse123 (4 December 2011)

scullysdad said:



			If it is public land then why shouldn't anyone tether their horse there - ain't doing any harm - probably saving the council money by cutting the grass for them! 

God, some people are so far up there own asses they lose sight of the light!
		
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erm  because it is not a nice way for a horse to live - can be downright dangerous.
Tethering is cruel and should be banned, made totally illegal imo.

A horse deserves proper free roaming grazing - not to be kept on the end of a rope just so the owners save some money on livery or renting a field  - Id charge these horrible selfish people double !!!!


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## scullysdad (4 December 2011)

Seen plenty of tethered horses that are very well cared for, in good condition and appear to be quite happy.

Not saying that they wouldn't prefer to roam freely over the common land but sadly vehicle drivers would probably kill them ...

,,, no, fining the owners sounds like a jolly wheeze to raise some cash by Birmingham Council.


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## Aoibhin (4 December 2011)

we had one teathered for her own safety & once you have seen a healthy pony smash her self to bits because the grass is greener you change stance very quickly.

P&R, mains electric (9 strands over 6ft high) brick walls, security panels, hedges you name it she went through/over/under the damned thing, vets could find nothing wrong with her (even with scans on brain).  she had company, plenty of food......

sadly her days ended very painfully because some ANNOYING DOGOODER took her off the teather to be loose with the other ponies in our (Private) feild where she promplty went through 7ft high 4ft wide hawthorne hedge & the P&R in front of it & down the embankment into the path of a HGV.

Dont tar all with the same brush, thank you.


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## darkhorse123 (4 December 2011)

Aoibhin said:



			we had one teathered for her own safety & once you have seen a healthy pony smash her self to bits because the grass is greener you change stance very quickly.

P&R, mains electric (9 strands over 6ft high) brick walls, security panels, hedges you name it she went through/over/under the damned thing, vets could find nothing wrong with her (even with scans on brain).  she had company, plenty of food......

sadly her days ended very painfully because some ANNOYING DOGOODER took her off the teather to be loose with the other ponies in our (Private) feild where she promplty went through 7ft high 4ft wide hawthorne hedge & the P&R in front of it & down the embankment into the path of a HGV.

Dont tar all with the same brush, thank you.
		
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But you are contradicting yourself - you agree with me! 
You obviously prefer to keep your horses loose or else you wouldnt have tried so many measures so she could run free.
I am saying owners who choose to keep their horses in this way rather than pay for  land for grazing are selfish and cruel 

I live in Leeds and see some very sorry sights - ponies tethered alone on verges next to busy roads with no water, no rugs in terrible weather despite beign unable to move around to keep warm. 
Or worse in areas notorious for trouble - red light areas etc. 
Areas you wouldnt feel safe walking alone in never mind leaving the poor sods alone to be teased or worse by drunks and idiots.
We all have different opinions and I respect that - i just think if people cannot afford or be bothered to provide grazing then they should not have horses.
I dont agree with caged bunnies or birds either - but i suppose im going off on one now


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## Aoibhin (4 December 2011)

no im not agreeing, i prefer to see them free to roam but would NEVER be happy with a ban on it.


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## Onyxia (2 February 2012)

scullysdad said:



			If it is public land then why shouldn't anyone tether their horse there - ain't doing any harm - probably saving the council money by cutting the grass for them! 

God, some people are so far up there own asses they lose sight of the light!
		
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Because public land is for public use- putting a horse on a part if it stops others using it.

I am not against horses being teathered itself (there have been some good emamples of why it might be the best management choice for an individual horse on this thread) but NOT on public land!

We recently had a young mare teathered in the middle of some grassland, its a popular spot for walkers that was put out of use because it was not safe to go past the bugger- if it was on a livery yard in a properly fenced field it would not have been a problem


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## Yertis (4 February 2012)

If it's public land can't we share? in Devon we already have designated areas for dog walkers, kids etc, don't see why tethered horses can't have an area. To be honest much easier for any concerned person or welfare to see the condition of a tethered horse rather than loose ones belting around a wasteland area. How the horse is condition wise is more important to me than whether it is tethered as long as it's done properly and mainly, the people keeping horses this way, have been doing it for centuries - to them the horse is a valuable asset.


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## Goldenstar (4 February 2012)

Aoibhin said:



			no im not agreeing, i prefer to see them free to roam but would NEVER be happy with a ban on it.
		
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That's because you have never been a welfare officer and seen the sad sorry sights I did I have no problem with you tethering your horse on your own land but there is a huge problem of illegal tethering around most citys most of the horses get inadequate care have miserable lives and pose a terrible risk to drivers when they get loose.
UNtil you have been involved you would not believe what goes on I would think that this council will have spent a fortune so far as well as the police RSPCA etc etc chasing round trying to solve this problem and have decided to get tough.


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## mountainview22 (5 February 2012)

sorry, but I know someone who's trying to start this business.in Bridgend as the council won't. They aren't interested.

As far as "they should all be allowed it's cutting grass" good, I'm not paying for grazing anymore then, why don't we all start tethering/fly grazing?

I agree with the poster who did it in the animals interest, BUT, notice how they politely stated " a dogooder... PRIVATE land" yeah, that's important, the word private as in that posters land, the land that poster PAYS for.

Although 2k is a silly figure, it's the best thing to do. Why should Anyone, no matter how pretty the pony is or polite etc, be allowed to own an animal they cannot provide sufficient care to?

Everybodies quick enough to ***** on the rspca for not doing anything, a council does something and gets blasted.

There really is no happy medium with horse minded people.


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## Goldenstar (6 February 2012)

scullysdad said:



			If it is public land then why shouldn't anyone tether their horse there - ain't doing any harm - probably saving the council money by cutting the grass for them! 

God, some people are so far up there own asses they lose sight of the light!
		
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Because it is a nightmare of inadequate care lack of water the mares foal on the tehers then as the foals run around as they get older get on roads the colts who are mostly unhandled get older and start covering the mares on the tethers and fighting then the ' owners' don't want the colts as they have to pay to cut them so will move them to another part of the city and dump them . They get onto roads and cause mayhem even death . They get harassed by dogs and injured in some areas I covered if injured the ' owners ' would sometimes move them closer to walk ways or pavements so the public call some kind charity who would treat them for nothing I could go on and on and on .
The cost £2000 may seem high but the council will be required to keep these horses in circumstances far better than they will ever have experianced before and why should Birminghams council tax payers meet the cost.

And as for your comment about people being up their own asses  it's unecessary to be rude you may not aggree with this councils action at least they are trying 
to address a problem.


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## Crackedhalo (8 February 2012)

scullysdad said:



			If it is public land then why shouldn't anyone tether their horse there - ain't doing any harm - probably saving the council money by cutting the grass for them! 

God, some people are so far up there own asses they lose sight of the light!
		
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ditto this!!


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## pixi (9 February 2012)

what happens to the horses if owners havent got the money to get them back ,,,council cant sell them if they dont have the passports ,,do they slaughter them for zoo meat


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## pixi (9 February 2012)

Horsesforever1 said:



			They are probably sold at public auction I expect. I think its good news and a good idea. Lets hope other councils follow their example.
		
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if they did go to public auction they wouldnt make 200 pounds,,so would be cheaper for owners to buy back at auction but if the is no passport they cant sell at auction legally


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## lachlanandmarcus (11 February 2012)

I dont think anyone has so much of an issue with a genuine gypsy moving up and down the country with a horse tethering them on a nice bit of fresh ground overnight and then moving them on the next day and tethering them somewhere new then.

What we are talking about is an epidemic of permanent tethering of horses on other peoples land or public ground/parks where in many cases the horses are not being looked after in a way that complies with the welfare code for horses or where the ground can no longer be used by the owner/public because of the use of the ground for tethering horses. 

For example, large areas of public amenity land used for horseriding where riders are frightened to ride due to large numbers of roaming entire stallions. 
Tethered horses put down due to ragwort or acorn poisoning as thats all theyve been left with the reach to eat for months
Public parks where the ground has been destroyed by tethered horses
Children unable to play in play areas for fear of getting kicked. 

The issues is NOT the tradition of tethering when on the move, it is the fly grazing of hundreds and thousands of poorly looked after horses illegally dumped and tethered on land that they have no right to be on. 

I have nothing but support for the initiative, since no other disincentives have worked. Until permanent (as opposed to single night in a location) tethering is outlawed, horse welfare will continue to suffer and this initiative may help to limit the growth of the issue.


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## rascal (12 February 2012)

lachlanandmarcus said:



			I dont think anyone has so much of an issue with a genuine gypsy moving up and down the country with a horse tethering them on a nice bit of fresh ground overnight and then moving them on the next day and tethering them somewhere new then.

What we are talking about is an epidemic of permanent tethering of horses on other peoples land or public ground/parks where in many cases the horses are not being looked after in a way that complies with the welfare code for horses or where the ground can no longer be used by the owner/public because of the use of the ground for tethering horses. 

For example, large areas of public amenity land used for horseriding where riders are frightened to ride due to large numbers of roaming entire stallions. 
Tethered horses put down due to ragwort or acorn poisoning as thats all theyve been left with the reach to eat for months
Public parks where the ground has been destroyed by tethered horses
Children unable to play in play areas for fear of getting kicked. 

The issues is NOT the tradition of tethering when on the move, it is the fly grazing of hundreds and thousands of poorly looked after horses illegally dumped and tethered on land that they have no right to be on. 

I have nothing but support for the initiative, since no other disincentives have worked. Until permanent (as opposed to single night in a location) tethering is outlawed, horse welfare will continue to suffer and this initiative may help to limit the growth of the issue.
		
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I agree with this, there are hundreds of tethered horses in walsall, some looked after, alot more are not.Some have been on the same land for years, the children have to play on the roads because the horses are tethered on every bit of land. The problems come when the horses get loose and someone gets hurt or the poor horse gets hit by a car.


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## rascal (22 February 2012)

Council must have been listening, tethered horses in walsall have now gone too!!


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