Horrific Horse Cruelty (see home page).

Horrific' Horse Cruelty Case: Family Guilty

A family of five have been found guilty of neglecting more than 100 horses, ponies and donkeys that starved to death in a "horror scene".

RSPCA inspectors discovered the cruelty when they were called to Spindle Farm in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, in January last year.

Horse trader James Gray, 45, and his son James Gray Junior, 16, were found guilty of 11 charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Mr Gray's wife Julie, 41, and their daughters Jodie, 26, and Cordelia, 20, were each found guilty of two charges under the same act. They were acquitted of nine cruelty charges brought against them.

Vets who visited Spindle Farm described the situation as the worst case of animal cruelty they had ever seen.

RSPCA inspectors found horses kept with little dry bedding and crammed into pens, ankle deep in their own faeces.

Hooves and body parts were also discovered scattered across the farm, along with a mound made up of bones and skulls.

Horse skulls found at Spindle Farm

The mound of animal skulls found at Spindle Farm

Bicester Magistrates' Court heard there were 140 animals at the farm, many of which were left with little food.

RSPCA chief inspector Rob Skinner said he found 32 carcasses in different locations when he went visited the farm with colleagues.

Some of these were burnt and dumped on a bonfire while others were left lying on the ground, covered in rubbish.

One dead horse was found on the back of a trailer with ropes around its tail.

In total 115 animals, some severely emaciated, had to be rescued and removed from the site.

At times Mr Gray became aggressive towards those carrying out the inspection and at another point he started shouting loudly and abusively.

Gray told the court it was common for horses to "drop down dead" and said some animals found on his land had died without warning or displaying any sign of illness.

And he said some corpses, which were left lying on his property for several days, were "family pets" which he was waiting to bury.

Gray, who has a previous conviction for causing unnecessary suffering to a horse, will be sentenced along with the other members of his family on June 12.

He was fined £3,500 in October 2006 in another case brought by the RSPCA.

Sickening read the full list of charges,im sure they argued the fact that because the horses where being exported for slaughter that their sentence should be lighter than normal cruelty cases.. throw away the key ...puke

Human garbage scum