Quality of life, or life at any cost?
Pictures of a former polo pony wearing a prosthetic leg have sparked debate over the ethics of similar situations
THE debate over how far it is right to go to keep an animal alive has been reignited after a magazine printed a picture of a former polo pony wearing a prosthetic leg.
The picture appeared in the current US edition of Hurlingham
Polo Magazine, with the headline “love of my life” on an article with her owner’s byline.
Argentine polo pony La Trompada enjoyed success on the pitch before sustaining a severe canon bone fracture in 2014 when attempting to jump a fence.
The limb was amputated and months later her owner, Jorge
Mac Donough, asked vet Agustin Almanza if he could make her a prosthetic limb.
Mr Almanza, who also makes corrective boots for foals with limb deformities and compression boots for fractures, fitted the limb in Argentina in 2015.
“I really felt we could help this mare,” he told H&H, adding she is an “intelligent” animal, and that while he “values life over everything”, he turns many prospective customers away.
“I get a lot of inquiries from people with a lot of hope and I tell them, ‘No, this isn’t going to work’,” he said, adding that he takes into consideration the state the horse is in, the care it will receive, the mindset of the owners and the nature of the injury.
But he said people “need to get used to new things”, adding Mr Mac Donough “does a lot for his horses” and loves the mare.
“The horse will tell you if they are suffering or not,” he said.
He added people have to be honest and responsible about each horse’s situation, and that he will help a horse until he sees signs of suffering, such as not eating.
“It’s not black or white,” he said, adding that a prosthesis could give some horses a “better life, or a better life for a while”.
Mr Almanza has made prosthetic limbs for equines from very valuable sport horses to those in rescue centres.
He said he does not do it for money or fame, but to help horses.
La Trompada’s leg does not bend as a normal horse’s does, but she can walk, and wears it during the day.
She has produced dozens of embryos, both before and since her accident.
HORSE WELFARE
BRITISH Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) president Victoria Nicholls said it was not possible to comment on an individual case, but welfare “must be our primary consideration”.
“Gone are the days of ‘shooting horses with limb fractures’ in the majority of cases, but just because we can do something doesn’t mean we necessarily should,” she told H&H.
She said equine biomechanics make prosthetics “a very different situation” and there is a “real risk” of severe laminitis or fatal foundering on supporting legs.
“A long life with compromised welfare and evitable suffering is no substitute for a humane end to life, whatever the emotional or financial attachment to the horse,” she said. “As vets, we must never lose sight of our primary role as guardians of equine welfare.”
QUALITY OF LIFE
BEVA ethics and welfare officer Lucy Grieve said amputation and prosthetic legs in horses is “not a viable option in most, if not all, cases due to ongoing pain and poor quality of life”.
“Although we have only just begun to quantify quality of life in horses, we must put this at the forefront of treatment decisions,” she said. “Horses are designed to stand and move most of the time; they cannot wear a prosthetic permanently so lying down for prolonged periods is usually inevitable and can cause even more complications.”
World Horse Welfare chief executive Roly Owers said although he does not know full details of this care, the charity has “grave concerns” about prostheses.
“The overriding priority should always be the quality of a horse’s life and not life at any cost or for commercial gain,” he told H&H.
“Owners need to consider why they want to prolong the horse’s life to make sure they are really putting the horse first.
“In this case, it’s not apparent what care the horse received in the months post fracture, and if her life has been prolonged primarily to produce embryos, this raises serious ethical questions.”
H&H tried to contact Mr
Mac Donough, but did not get a response before going to press.