HORSES IN AGONY

Vet tells trial that he had to put down animals to end suffering

A VET was forced to put down two horses who were emaciated and in “unrelenting pain”, a court heard yesterday.

Chris Calder was giving evidence at the trial of stable owner Jackie Kemp, who is accused of mistreating three animals.

She is facing five charges between November 2015 and February 2016 at Balmule Farm and Wester Denhead, near Dunfermline.

Calder, who lectures at the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, was called out on several occasions by the Scottish SPCA to look at the three elderly animals when he was the out-of-hours duty vet early in 2016.

He told Dunfermline Sheriff Court that two of the horses, mares called Brogan and Molly, were later put down, while a gelding called Beano survived.

The horses were severely emaciated with their “skeletal structure visible” and suffering from worms, lice or other parasites when he examined them at SSPCA’s centre at Balerno, near Edinburgh.

Calder said Beano was “incredibly underweight” while Brogan had raw lesions on her legs “from repeated standing in wet and muddy conditions”.

Under cross-examination by Philip McWilliams, Calder was shown photographs of Brogan and accused of exaggerating her injuries. He replied: “Brogan was in unrelenting pain.”

Kemp denies five charges of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to provide a suitable environment for the horses to live in. The trial continues.