RSPCA chiefs have urged people not to take their dogs to Appleby Horse Fair and warned they will take action if they see animals left in vehicles.
The annual gathering was bathed in sunshine today – but RSPCA inspector Rob Molloy, who is co-ordinating animal welfare at the event, said daytrippers visited the fair, thinking it was a nice day out, but once arriving in Appleby, discovered that it was not really suitable for their pets and popped them back in their vehicles.
He said almost every year, RSPCA staff had to remove dogs from cars and the charity had a zero tolerance approach.
He said: “One of the main problems we have every year is dogs being left in hot cars. People often get here and realise that it isn’t the best environment for their dogs.
“If we see a dog locked in a hot car, we will remove it.
“Every year I remove dogs from hot cars – we have a zero tolerance policy on it, so if we see them, we will take them away.”
He said Appleby Horse Fair was the biggest planned animal welfare operation in Europe.
He added: “We are so far really concerned with the hot weather as dehydration can be a massive problem for horses.”
Andie McPherson, campaigns manager at Redwings and co-ordinator of the Appleby Horse Fair Equine Welfare Project, said: “We’re here for the whole fair encouraging people to make sure their horses are well rested, looked after and hydrated.
Andie said: “We’re also running a project called Best at Appleby, where we give out rosettes to the healthiest horses.”
The welfare team have been running this for a number of years and given out 60 awards.
Andie added: “From what we see, 90 per cent of the horses are really well looked after and very healthy. There’s often a lot of focus on the bad things that happen so the good things often get overlooked.
“Our project is all about building trust with fair goers and the Travelling community and we’ve seen more people come to vets and come to us with concerns.
“Last year, one of our rosette winners was a beautiful stallion who had his own chiropractor and really specific care.
“There also wasn’t one mark on him after he travelled 60 miles to be there. The attention that went into the horses care was unreal.
“Some people are worried the animal welfare teams are here to scrutinise them and it can make them fearful of being judged.
“We’re here to drive positive action and to encourage improvement but that doesn’t mean we don’t overlook the situations where horses are not being kept well.
“It’s a huge part of the town’s heritage and we love seeing happy and healthy horses, which is generally the norm here.”
Day one of the fair has so far been straightforward, said Chief Superintendent Matt Kennerley, of Cumbria police.
He said: “So far, so good, we’ve had a calm night and morning with travellers arriving and settling into the fields without any problems.
“It may be the first day of the fair, but our work started many weeks ago. The weather is going to be warm so we’re expecting a lot of people over the weekend and really want to stress to people to take care and be patient when arriving and leaving.”
