Crackdown on horses grazing on public land
A crackdown has been launched on horse owners in a Black Country borough who continue to flout the law by grazing their animals on public land without permission.
Sandwell Council will be putting up new signs on green spaces across the borough where horses and foals are regularly found tethered – often without adequate food, shelter or water.
Council bosses questioned the 'cruelty' of tethering horses on public land, which runs the risk of them breaking loose and endangering the public.
The council says that people continue to graze horses on council-owned land, despite it being against the law. The new signs will allow bailiffs to remove horses immediately so they can be taken to safety.
Bailiffs currently have to wait four days to remove the animals under the Control of Horses Act 2015.
Councillor Paul Moore, cabinet member for regeneration, said he was determined to sort out the horse problem.
"This use of public land for tethering horses is something that is not allowed – apart from the dangers of horses getting loose and possibly injuring people there is also the question of cruelty," he said.
"People over the years have complained about the horses and foals being tethered up in the heat of the summer without any shade and in the winter without any adequate protection, food or water.
"I have asked officers to work to remove the horses currently grazing on the open space near Hall Lane and on The Cracker in Tipton and bailiffs will be removing the animals," he said.
Signs will be put up in other areas where horses are regularly illegally tethered warning owners of the new crackdown. Any horses then found on these sites can be immediately taken away.
Councillor Moore added: "Once we have tackled the issue of the horses on these two sites in Tipton, we'll be looking at other sites where people are illegally keeping horses and taking action.
"Anyone who is currently illegally grazing their horses needs to move them to proper stables or land where they have permission to keep them."
Horses are removed by bailiffs, checked for a microchip and if the owner cannot be traced, they are treated by a vet, retrained if necessary and then rehomed.
