At ERF we are regularly informed of possible welfare cases by our members and supporters. Often we need to find out more background information on the animals in order to assess whether the animals are simply ill and being cared for properly by their owners or whether they are being neglected and are truly in need of help.

At the weekend we were contacted via one of the French forums about a horse in Deux Sevres (79) with a severe eye infection / growth. As we have team members in the area, we visited on Sunday and took photos of the mare. We sent these photos to our vet who recommended that the eye is removed immediately and suggested that there may be a tumour behind the eye – this would require an operation which could be carried out in one of the Paris clinics. The Paris clinic was contacted and they would be able to operate and are sending their estimated cost to us today.

However, at this stage it is difficult to assess whether this is a welfare case or not – the mare may be neglected and being left to die, or she may be an elderly animal in the later stages of cancer who regularly sees a vet and whose owners are waiting for the right time to euthanise her. We can only find this out by contacting the owner and so the next stop is the Mairie to trace the owner. We believe we now know who owns her and will be trying to contact them tonight. Only then, will we know what course of action we should take next. We’ll keep you informed on our progress….