Mother and son handed animal ban after emaciated horses had to be put down

One of the animals was so thin it was unable to provide milk for its foal, a court heard. RSPCA inspectors took the mares to a rescue centre but they died from liver disease as a result of 'shocking' living conditions.

Katrina Till, aged 39, and Liam Till, 19, from Rugeley, were found guilty by Cannock magistrates of failing to address the horses' poor body condition, provide adequate diet, sufficient worm and lice control, or adequate foot care.

The RSPCA rescued the horses, firstly Bella, a two-year-old piebald cob in October last year, and then Holly, a 20-year-old palomino cob-cross, who was seized two months later.

Both mares were removed on veterinary grounds, along with their foals, and sent to Redwings Horse Sanctuary in Warwickshire, the biggest equine rescue centre in the UK.

Staff said Bella initially showed signs of improvement but after three months began to lose her appetite. She was moved to the sanctuary's veterinary hospital in Norfolk for a liver biopsy and blood tests, where it was found she had serious liver disease. Despite medics' best efforts to combat the condition, she had to be put down.

Holly was described by staff as 'severely underweight, displaying wild, frightened behaviour'. She was taken to the quarantine centre at Norfolk suffering from worms, lice and lack of dental care. Liver disease was also diagnosed and she, too, was humanely killed.

Staff named Bella's foal Arabella, after her mother, while Holly's foal was called Savannah.

RSPCA inspector Kate Levesley welcomed the lifetime disqualifications. She said: "When I found Bella and her foal, they were in such a bad way. Then it was shocking to find Holly and her foal in an equally bad way just two months later.

"This ban means that these two people will not be able to neglect horses again."

Nicolas de Brauwere, head of welfare at Redwings, believes the mares' liver disease was caused by ragwort poisoning as a result of the animals not being fed and left in unsuitable grazing ground in Whitacre Lane, Lichfield.

He said: "We're pleased with the guilty verdicts and sentencing but this should not have happened to these mares in the first place.

"It's very upsetting that in both cases Bella and Holly responded well in the early days after being given the basic care and nourishment they were so desperately lacking from their owners, but then went downhill so rapidly. We take some comfort in that justice has been served."

The Tills, both of Uttoxeter Road, Blithbury, Rugeley, were also each given an 18-month community order and ordered to pay £750 costs. Liam Till was also given a suspended prison sentence.