A HEARTBROKEN family have issued a warning after being forced to put down two of their horses who ate grass cuttings dumped by a fly tipper.
Jack Harman, from Aveley, Essex, says he and his family were “devastated” after they were forced to euthanise two of their horses within five days of each other.
10-year-old Lady and 16-year-old Paris had to be put down on the 17th and 21st of April respectively, after they ate grass clippings and developed colic.
Grass cuttings are extremely dangerous for horses, who often gorge themselves on the trimmings.
This means they are not properly diluted with saliva and then begin to ferment in the stomach, giving off harmful gases.
A distraught Jack took to Facebook to warn others about the dangers.
He shared pictures of the beloved animals with the caption: “Do not feed horses grass cuttings.
“Last night my brother had to have his beautiful mare Lady put to sleep, because some absolute imbecile decided to feed her grass cuttings.
“Lady was a perfectly healthy horse. They have had her for 10 years and now she has gone
“If you don’t have any knowledge on horses then do not feed them”
He went on to highlight the dangers of grass cuttings for horses and explained their lack of “vomit reflex”makes them particularly vulnerable.
Jack’s post, which has been liked over 5,300 times, has prompted an outpouring of sympathy from social media users.
Penny Barton wrote: “So very sorry, beautiful horses.”
Diane Farina added: “So sorry about your poor horse, thanks for posting because everyone should know this.”
And Rhonda Laplante said: “So sorry for your loss, I didn’t know that information either. God bless.”
Speaking today Jack, 26, said: “We were all absolutely devastated and heartbroken, losing Lady, she was only ten years old and didn’t deserve to die.
“The next two day,s the other horses all seemed fine. However when we went down there on Tuesday we found Paris in the exact same condition Lady was in.
“That’s when we decided to inspect every inch of our field and found that yet another lot of grass cuttings had been dumped right over the back of our horse field which we cleared away immediately.
“Unfortunately it was the same outcome for Paris as it was Lady, there was absolutely nothing that could be done to save her which was soul destroying.
“We have dedicated the last 16 years of our lives to those horses and for some irresponsible person to take that from us is heart wrenching.
“How dare they, shame on them, I hope they lose sleep every night over what they have done because not only have they killed our two beautiful girls but they have absolutely broken us.”
Councils across the country have seen a spike in fly tipping since the coronavirus outbreak, due to the closure of recycling facilities and reduced refuse collections.
The Countryside Alliance reports a 300% increase in fly tipping in some areas, as many people use the lockdown to clear out their homes.
