Latest News

Equines going out on loan

July 21st, 2007. 6:18 pm cet.

Although we get requests for loan horses on a regular basis the problem is everyone wants the same, a well trained equine that they can either use for themselves or their children. What needs to be made clear is the majority of the equines in our care are very old or just foals where their mothers have died or have been killed in railway or road accidents. This means that the few useable equines that come in to us we need to keep for either training courses or riding for the mentally and physically disadvantaged. What we can put out on loan are foals that can be brought on if someone has the time and capability. Even though we need to find new homes there are certain conditions for a loan, which are nearly the same as most other rescue charities. Anyone interested we suggest makes a visit to our centre and see what is on offer.

Our Equestrian Centre

July 8th, 2007. 10:36 pm cet.

We were concerned that the new laws would bring us even more work but it appears that with equines having to be micro chipped and have its habitat licensed it has brought about an improvement . As in many cases where we have been asked to attend the owners have been located. All though we have still had some abandoned equine come in without a micro chip there certainly have not been the dumping of old or unwanted equines, which we feared might happen. The riding for the mentally and physically disadvantaged has gone from strength to strength and it has become a major part of our work at our centre at Alqueria (Alhaurin de la Torre). Hopefully with experienced volunteers further horses and donkeys can be brought on to lead a useful and full life. It is very rewarding not only to be able to rehabilitate unwanted and discarded equines but to retrain them for such a noble cause and is extremely rewarding to everyone involved. We still have a huge amount of work to do to get the Lauro Centre how we want it as much of the work came to a stand still over the winter due to the heavy rain fall and the damage it caused. The authorities who offered to help us with facilities for the riding for the mentally and physically disadvantaged at our centre has not materialized, but we can only hope that they can eventually see the benefit it gives!

Donkey Slaughter

April 17th, 2007. 6:39 am cet.

Sadly horse and donkey meat is eaten in many places in Spain but it never fails to disgust those people that are attached to these wonderful creatures. Many people have been in contact with us in the last few days to tell us so. In the town of Sort, Lerida in Cataluna, the gastronomic association killed two donkeys that were the main dish in a party of 500 guests on Saturday February 3rd, in order to promote donkey meat, which they say is much sweeter than horse meat and delicious! There are 300 Catalan donkeys left in Spain and some of those are destined for reproduction and are protected, the rest can be eaten apparently. It is especially surprising in an area of Spain that calls itself advanced on animal protection issues. If like us, you wish to show your disgust then please write to mayor, Sr. Agusti Lopez i Pla Alcalde del Ayuntamiento de Sort, Lerida, Cataluna; or e-mail him at ajuntament@sort.ddl.net or send a fax to 973620064 or contact him through the Lerida provincial government web site. http://www.diputaciolleida.net/e/diputacio/contacte-gavin.html

New EU Regulations

February 5th, 2007. 12:59 am cet.

New regulation on transporting equines within the European Union came into force on 5th January 2007. Something SEPE has been keen to see improved, especially for all the equines either traveling to Barcelona or on to Italy and France for slaughter. Over the last decade SEPE has collaborated with other animal charities to see some control over the transporters who have had far too much freedom. It can only be hoped that Spain will put adequate resources into controlling this and prosecuting those who ignore the welfare regulations for transporting animals over long distances. Under the new rules, vehicles used to transport animals for 8 hours or more will have to be upgraded and be officially approved. Drivers and attendants of animals in transit will be subject to compulsory training, and as from 2008 certified for care of animals. The new legislation extends and clarifies the chain of responsibility for the animals, to include not only the transporters but also traders, drivers, and staff at each point of the journey. As from now, any new vehicles used for the transporting of animals long distance (over 8 hours) must be equipped with a satellite navigation system. This will make the enforcement of EU rules on travel and rest times very much easier. Older trucks which are already in use have until 2009 to install this equipment. It is hoped that there will be full collaboration between member states now that modern technology is being introduced to monitor cross border transporters and to make the enforcing of regulations much easier.

A New Year and Decade

January 8th, 2007. 8:24 pm cet.

A new year is with us again along with the first decade of rescuing and rehabilitating horses, mules and donkeys at our sanctuary. Hopefully with every year that passes our dedicated work will improve the lives for many equines, although we appreciate it can never be enough. Over the last decade we have attended to hundreds of horses, mules and donkeys, many we have taken into our care or have been put down humanely to stop further suffering. With the new sanctuary based at the Lauro Golf Equestrian Centre, Alhaurin de La Torre, it will give us the opportunity to expand on our educational work and several courses are already being finalized, which will be advertised at a later date. We have also totally renovated the house at the centre so we will be able to have veterinary and equestrian students staying during their work experience. Our biggest fear for the coming year is that due to the stricter licensing of premises where equines are kept that many older horses, mules and donkeys will be abandoned.

New Equines!

November 27th, 2006. 6:31 pm cet.

Several more equines have come into our Lauro Golf centre, which have come in via various police forces. We desperately need sponsors for these as well as all the other equines in our care that are in need of our support. We do adoption certificates for most of the horses, mules and donkeys that gives us a small amount of revenue towards our daily running costs. We do these from 20 euros a year and they make a nice gift for any animal lover. We are in need of sponsors for various facility projects and would very much like to hear from further commercial backers. We would also like to thank those who are already working with us and are supporting our work. If our supporters would prefer to donate on a monthly basis via their bank it would help give our work some stability even a commitment of 2 or 3 euros makes a difference, so please consider this method of supporting us.

A Very Busy Month

October 7th, 2006. 3:00 am cet.

September was a very busy month for us with all the refurbishment work underway at our new centre at Lauro Golf, Alhaurin de la Torre and of course then trying to fund it. We have been involved with several well publicised welfare cases, along the normal reports we receive each day. The Roca horses caught the media attention and kept us extremely busy answering well over 100 calls and a similar amount of e-mails. We were eventually allowed to inspect the horses along with the animal protectors of Malaga. Although we were pleased that the majority appeared to be in good health, there needs to be an urgent decision made on the future of 2 severely laminitic horses. There was also plenty of media attention from horses abandoned in Granada. Another big issue reaching the press once again was the huge amount of equines travelling long distance from Spain for slaughter. We brought in 2 more donkeys, the worst one coming from Granada that appeared to have been in an accident and then left abandoned. But we are confident with veterinary care and nursing expertise we will have if back to full health. These like other animals in our care are in need of your generosity to give them a chance of a full life. We also need to have emergency food and medical supplies ready when these situations arise.

Roca's Horses

September 25th, 2006. 5:43 pm cet.

Due to the media attention much of Spain knows SEPE has now been involved with the saga of the horses of Juan Antonio Roca, which are tied up in the Marbella Malaya case. SEPE had a report a few weeks ago that there were welfare problems with the horses that were embargoed within the on going investigation by Judge Miguel Angel Torres. We were assured from the court that no horses were at risk and that all the horses were in good condition, which was obviously not the case. On the 20th September there was a press release to the media showing photos and video footage of horses in a very bad condition, which was picked up by most of the national newspapers, as well as many TV and radio stations. The reports suggest that all the horses were starving and some had died from malnutrition, which appears not to be correct either. The released photos clearly proved the horse had other problems such as tumors, growths and some had laminitis. But there was no clear indication of how many were in such a condition. There has been photos released also of other horses in good condition but we would need to gain access to see them all not just a selected few. SOPRONA the police in charge of animal protection were not able to gain access without permission from the court, which makes the whole situation farcical and no one trusting anyone involved. If the reports of horses dying are correct a simple head count would answer the question of how many, although we have been informed that there were three horses that died from colic. At this point in time we are awaiting a court decision, whether we can gain access to all the other horses so they can be independently checked by ourselves. Our question to the courts administrator is, who is going to make the decision on what is going to happen to those that need medical treatment or putting down?

Permanent Premises

August 17th, 2006. 5:00 pm cet.

Thanks to the owners of Lauro Golf we have recently taken over Lauro Golf Equestrian Centre, which will become our main operational base. It will be used as a rescue and rehabilitation center, and for running training courses and lessons. The centre will also be used as a base from which to liaise with and organize other facilities in Spain. We hope that the centre will bring in tourists and residents that are interested in equine welfare and what our society now represents. There is ample room for parking for visitors and a club café/bar for refreshments. There is small apartment which could be made into accommodation for veterinary students. The centre has some other buildings apart from those already converted into stables, which will give us many other possibilities, such as a shop, classrooms, indoor riding school, isolation unit, etc. These will all be separate specific projects that can be commenced once we have received donations. For some years we have been offering riding for the mentally and physically disabled and have already offered local associations the use of our new riding areas. We have also agreed to make our facilities available to local equestrian associations and breeders to hold shows. There are two arenas and the main arena will have two and half meter wood fencing, where we plan to offer permanent advertising .The donation asked for each advertising space of approximately 2.meters by 0.75 meters will be 300 euros per year and the sponsor may supply their own advertising panel if they wish. We are looking for sponsors for the 11 visitor friendly paddocks where our abandoned horses and donkeys will be housed. The cost of sponsoring one of these is 950 euros. (Once only charge) We anticipate that many visitors will be keen to see the rescued animals so a board with the sponsor’s name will receive much attention. Costing and details of our other projects will be supplied to interested companies or individual sponsors on request. We count on your support and donations.

2006 Feria Season

June 24th, 2006. 9:13 pm cet.

The Feria season is upon us and along with all the normal equine welfare reports, we have many more complaints concerning the feria ponies, carriage horses, festivals and donkey taxis, so it is inevitable we will have much more work than we can possibly handle. Where there are inconsiderate operators and poor control by the local authorities who have not imposed acceptable working conditions, there is always going to be complaints. With a very low working budget our time on each complaint has to be limited especially when we are involved in many issues nationally. Although many complaints come in each day, without the adequate funding or the complainants donating it is difficult for us to find the financial backing to see things through to a successful conclusion.