Dead horse dumped by the roadside
A man was left shocked after he found a dead horse dumped along with rubbish bags on the side of a country road.
Stephen Todd saw the foal alongside a black bin liner in Elemore Lane, in the Easington Lane area.
A shocked Mr Todd and another man stopped at the scene before alerting authorities to the find.
“I was just driving past when I saw it,” said Mr Todd, 49, of Murton.
“I actually thought it was a rocking horse at first.
“There was a bin bag next to it, so it looks as if both were dumped by the same person.
“It was absolutely shocking to see and very upsetting.
“A lot of families go along there with young children and you wouldn’t want them seeing such a thing.”
Mr Todd made the grim find on Wednesday, with the animal and rubbish moved by the following day.
He has hit out at those responsible for not disposing of the foal properly.
“You hear about a fly-tipping happening a lot more these days, but this has gone beyond that,” he said.
“It shouldn’t have been left out for people to see like it was. Ideally it should have been buried as soon as possible.
“Something needs to be done about the people doing this, but I know it’s hard for the authorities to catch them doing it.
“The people who have done this need to be punished because it’s disgraceful.”
Leanne Plumtree, spokeswoman for the RSPCA, confirmed the charity received two calls about the foal and advised the callers to contact the council on the same day Mr Todd spotted the body.
She added: “We have been contacted about this foal and, as there was no evidence of neglect, the callers were advised to contact the council, who deal with fly tipping and would be responsible for the horse’s removal.
“Very sadly we get a lot of these kinds of calls, where dead and, appallingly, sometimes dying horses have been found dumped in this manner.
“Disposing of a horse’s body has cost implications.”