Agony of horse that had tail burnt by a Chinese lantern
A HORSE had part of its tail burnt off and suffered a foot-long leg wound after being hit by a Chinese lantern. The mare’s owner Sarah Sladen has now called for a ban on the lanterns.
Seven- year- old Bastante bolted through a wire fence after the burning light hit her, causing the tear in her hind leg. Mrs Sladen said the lanterns, which are made of bamboo and float into the sky with an open flame, are a threat to wildlife. She added: ‘These things should be outlawed, it is as simple as that.
‘The biggest problem is for the animals because if it falls into grass, it’s the wire. Grass gets made into hay. You then end up with animals injured through eating the wire that gets into the bales of hay. They should be got rid of – end of.’
The chestnut bay racehorse has been seen by a vet and is now recovering.
Calls for a ban on Chinese lanterns, which are popular at weddings and parties, have grown in recent years. They are said to be a danger to wildlife – especially during hot weather when they can cause wildfires.
They pose a greater risk at a time when temperatures of up to 90F (32C) have left grasslands parched – with major blazes breaking out in Carmarthenshire, the Malverns and Saddleworth Moor. They have been outlawed on all councilowned land in Wales and by several English councils but campaigners are calling for a nationwide ban.
Last week, MP Ruth George joined the Countryside Alliance, RSPCA and Peak District National Park in calling for a lantern festival in her constituency to be cancelled amid fears it could cause a wildfire. The Lights Fest event at Buxton, on the edge of Britain’s first national park, would have seen thousands of lanterns lit. It has now been called off.
Bastante was returned to her stable after she broke through the wire fence last Saturday night. It was only in daylight the next morning that her owners realised she had been injured.
Mrs Sladen, of Wolverton, Hampshire, who owns the mare together with friends Teresa Armstrong, and husband and wife Richard and Kate Bandey, found part of the horse’s tail near the lantern.
The 53-year-old said she realised the lantern must have landed on the mare’s tail. The lights fall when they run out of fuel, but this one must still have been hot enough to burn the horse.
Bastante competes in point-to-point meetings, The point-to-point a form of season amateur runs jump between races. October pasture for and the April summer. so she has been out to
The Chief Fire Officers Association and the National Farmers Union have also campaigned against the lanterns.
Dr Mark Kennedy, of the RSPCA said: ‘As is the case with farm livestock, horses can be burned by sky lanterns coming can into be contact caused with as they them. panic Further and attempt injury to risk highly escape. – drifting the combustible consequence Even into stabled a stable straw of a horses or and burning barn hay are full lantern are at of obvious ‘Sky lanterns and horrifying. pose multiple dangers to smaller animals too, causing entanglement or entrapment. They can also be ingested, meaning sharp parts of the device can tear and puncture an animal’s internal throat bleeding.’ or stomach, causing horrific
‘Horrific internal bleeding’