Suzanne Jenkins banned from keeping horses after 'suffering' animals found at Kilcot

2:45pm Thursday 6th November 2008

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A STUD owner has been convicted of mistreating 12 of her animals near Ross-on- Wye.

Suzanne Jenkins, aged 33, formerly of North Farm, Kilcot, was found guilty last week of three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to five horses on the stud.

She was also convicted by a district judge at Coleford Magistrates Court, of four of the five animal husbandry charges she faced.

They were brought under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and alleged she had failed to provide adequate shelter and food to the horses.

The judge ordered the confiscation of five horses from her and banned her from keeping horses for two years.

Judge David Parsons said he accepted that Jenkins had been around horses since she was young and had attained a good knowledge of how to look after them.

But later she had succumbed, in a bid to make profits, to taking on an ever increasing workload and too many horses, he said.

The judge said that a general picture of mismanagement and an inability to cope had been painted of her operation at Kilcot last year as she took on more and more horses.

Many of the 49 horses she kept at Kilcot had been compromised and given an insufficient diet for their needs, he ruled.

She had been running a failing business with mounting debts and bills outstanding, he said.

One of the three unnecessary suffering charges concerned a horse named Ulando, on which he found her guilty. She had failed to provide that horse with treatment for a congenital dental problem, despite being advised to do so by the vet, said the judge.

One of the animal husbandry charges of which she was also found guilty involved failing to provide suitable food and water to a lactating mare and her foal.

Jenkins was cleared of one charge of failing to provide a suitable environment for one horse.

Nigel Weller, defending, told Judge Parsons she had learned a salutary lesson and her life was very difficult.

The judge fined Jenkins £200 on each of the three unnecessary suffering charges and a further £400 towards the prosecution costs with a £15 victim surcharge.

He also ordered the seizure of five horses that were taken from North Farm and now live in a Herefordshire home for the animals – Polar Princess, Grand Dezzo, Impressario, Evie, and Ulando – and banned her from keeping horses for two years.

Jenkins now lives with her parents in southern Spain. The Spanish authorities are currently investigating after 16 horses were found starved to death at her premises there.

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