MP calls on council to detain horses tethered on roadside after Minister’s advice

8:54am Monday 21st May 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

Horses tethered at the side of the York to Stamford Bridge road, at Gate Helmsley, earlier this year Horses tethered at the side of the York to Stamford Bridge road, at Gate Helmsley, earlier this year

AN MP is calling for City of York Council to confiscate all horses tethered dangerously on verges after Transport Minister Norman Baker confirmed local authorities had the necessary powers.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy raised the issue of tethered horses with the Government Minister after two animals were recently killed when they broke free and were hit by vehicles on roads near York.

He said the Minister had now replied to outline the responsibility of both local authorities and police to take action against any horse owners who tethered their animals illegally on the roads.

Mr Baker said the Animals Act 1971 gave landowners powers to detain stray livestock, including horses, and recover expenses.

“The local authority could, therefore, detain any stray horses found on any local authority owned land,” he said.

Mr Sturdy claimed that for too long the issue of tethered horses had been “swept under the carpet by those who are simply too afraid of taking on those responsible for the tethering of horses on our roadsides”.

He said further horses would get loose and cause dangerous, perhaps even fatal, collisions, unless robust, tough and immediate action was taken.

“The local authority must remove all and any animals tethered in dangerous areas even if they look secure upon inspection,” he said.

His comments came after Osbaldwick councillor Mark Warters said another horse broke free and was seen running around the Link Road at Osbaldwick earlier this month.

Steve Waddington, assistant director of housing and public protection, said the council was looking into what appropriate course of action it could take, both in the short term and long term, to develop a solution to the problem.

“When we become aware of horses tethered at the roadside, we contact the owners if we are able to do so, to get them to move the horse(s) on,” he said.

“If the animal is clearly a danger to the highway, we work with the police and RSPCA to remove the danger as quickly as possible.”

Comments(47)

the commentator says...
9:03am Mon 21 May 12

About time! The council need to make immediate plans to put this into action and stop the potential of further accidents, which at some point are bound to end in the death of some innocent driver, never mind the poor horses that break loose. If nobody comes to claim them or pay for their release, then I'm sure the council can make a roaring trade in dealing the horses at Appleby Fair.

Report this post »

Torycouncil2015 says...
9:48am Mon 21 May 12

lunacy. If the council confiscates them they will have to look after them. Im sorry but I dont want my council tax going to pay for the upkeep of 200 traveller horses

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
9:56am Mon 21 May 12

Glue Factory?

Report this post »

Micklegate says...
9:57am Mon 21 May 12

Torycouncil2015 wrote:
lunacy. If the council confiscates them they will have to look after them. Im sorry but I dont want my council tax going to pay for the upkeep of 200 traveller horses
I would rather it went up than I was killed by a horse smashing into my car. Plus confiscating is not some scheme whereby the council take on the maintenance of your horse! It means people lose them or it costs to get them back, thus being a big deterrent.

Report this post »

MrChuckles says...
9:58am Mon 21 May 12

There is another issue surrounding the tethered horses in York. For the last 2 weeks I have driven past the horses tethered by the new University site. Often no water and appear very scared and timid when approached by the "owners", about time these horses were taken away.

Report this post »

Boadicea says...
10:19am Mon 21 May 12

The council should find somewhere for the horses to go, they evicted them from their field to build houses.

Report this post »

pedalling paul says...
10:22am Mon 21 May 12

When our local medieval peasants grazed their animals on the Knavesmire, any strays were rounded up and put into the pinfold..a version of today's car pound, and the owner had to pay a fine to retrieve it.
Any suggestions on where a modern pinfold might be situated...?

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
10:27am Mon 21 May 12

Simple, round em up over to the Glue Factory.
What's the problem, might even make a few bob.....

Report this post »

scooterboy says...
10:35am Mon 21 May 12

what do you class as stray, if they are tied up, they cant be classed as stray

Report this post »

bolero says...
10:36am Mon 21 May 12

Now that local authorities have the necessary powers to take action then they must surely be held responsible for any incident which occurs involving dangerously tethered horses of which they are aware. The emphasis; I think; has got to be on "of which they are aware" and therefore it is incumbent upon the public to bring any cases to the attention of the Council so that the necessary action can be taken. The owners, if known, must also hold some responsibility of course but the Council would be negligent in their duty if they failed to act upon a known danger.

Report this post »

Ex CYC says...
10:51am Mon 21 May 12

Why not work with the travellers, - charge a grazing fee and agree a standard of tethering that keeps the horses and motorists safe. Surely the travellers don't want their horses killed anymore that motorists want to run the gauntlet

Report this post »

Shouter says...
11:57am Mon 21 May 12

Bravo Julian Sturdy. For once, here is a politician with scruples who is willing to do something positive for honest, hard-working tax payers. Keep up the good work.

Report this post »

Micklegate says...
12:06pm Mon 21 May 12

Ex CYC wrote:
Why not work with the travellers, - charge a grazing fee and agree a standard of tethering that keeps the horses and motorists safe. Surely the travellers don't want their horses killed anymore that motorists want to run the gauntlet
The travllers pay for something???????????
?????

Report this post »

bolero says...
12:23pm Mon 21 May 12

The travellers' greatest asset is their horses. Take them off them if they are breaking the law. If a young lad breaks the law on the roads with his motor scooter it is confiscated and is only given back on a payment.The same principal should apply. No payment, then horsemeat.

Report this post »

PobbleandBobble says...
1:06pm Mon 21 May 12

Eric el Rojo wrote:
Simple, round em up over to the Glue Factory. What's the problem, might even make a few bob.....
you are repeating yourself and your comments are pathetic

Report this post »

alfie says...
1:39pm Mon 21 May 12

Boadicea wrote:
The council should find somewhere for the horses to go, they evicted them from their field to build houses.
Yes and I think that perhaps a rescue centre should be set up for "abandoned/tethered" horses I for one would like to donate for such a cause, its alright people on here making rash comments about horse meat and bloody travellers etc but these poor horses need protecting its not there fault they have been dumped at the road side.

Report this post »

The Grim Reaper says...
1:49pm Mon 21 May 12

pedalling paul wrote:
When our local medieval peasants grazed their animals on the Knavesmire, any strays were rounded up and put into the pinfold..a version of today's car pound, and the owner had to pay a fine to retrieve it. Any suggestions on where a modern pinfold might be situated...?
I think "goody two pedals" ought to offer his back garden for this....any money he makes could be ploughed back into another cycle lane (NOT).

Report this post »

muckybutt says...
2:14pm Mon 21 May 12

Boadicea wrote:
The council should find somewhere for the horses to go, they evicted them from their field to build houses.
Dont talk rubbish, what field were they in ? and when were they evicted ?, names and dates please other wise shut up !

These travellers horses are a pain in the ar5e, if they cant afford to keep them under proper control in a field that they either own or lease then they shouldnt have them, whats the point in having them ?

Report this post »

TerryYork says...
3:02pm Mon 21 May 12

Eric el Rojo wrote:
Glue Factory?
You want them to murder the horses? What a ****.

Report this post »

bolero says...
3:43pm Mon 21 May 12

Alfie, these horses aren't abandoned. They are being supposedly cared for on the cheap by the travelling fraternity or are their own property.Neither have they been dumped. According to one set of `travellers`these animals are worth thousands of pounds, therefore, let them pay for their upkeep and /or disposal.

Report this post »

meme says...
3:57pm Mon 21 May 12

If i left my car on roadside it would be towed away and if i didn't pay a fine, crushed;
its harsh but fair.If horses are taken away the owners should pay to get them back plus a fine. If they dont pay the council should sell them on if possible or have them destroyed
The verge of a road is not that I am aware 'common' land. There are plenty of owners of land who would charge a few quid to let people graze their horses but the problem is these people generally dont abide by the rules and abuse the arrangement so they tether on council land
A few horses taken away or even destroyed no matter how unfair will change this attitude

Report this post »

alfie says...
4:14pm Mon 21 May 12

bolero wrote:
Alfie, these horses aren't abandoned. They are being supposedly cared for on the cheap by the travelling fraternity or are their own property.Neither have they been dumped. According to one set of `travellers`these animals are worth thousands of pounds, therefore, let them pay for their upkeep and /or disposal.
your missing the point if it was illegal to have horses tethered at the side of the road or anywhere that they may be in danger or a danger they should be removed by the council and put into a shelter and never given back to the travellers.

Report this post »

MrChuckles says...
6:03pm Mon 21 May 12

I agree with Alfie. @Bolero, if you observed or went past often enough, you would realise the Tethering of these animals is not a good way for them to be kept. The other day I was told by a friend (who walks past often) that many of the local students have shown concern for these animals. One example is that, In the wind a few days back, the flimsy water bucket they are provided with blew over, and when he returned home 4 to 5 hours later it was still blown over. Nobody from the owners had evidently noticed, or cared enough to have stopped by, given the weather conditions. Also someone in the sun went over and because they were passing by and noticed the sun+no water (again) = Bad conditions for any animal (beleive it or not, I learnt that in nursery school!!!) emptied there bottle of water in2 the bucket for the horses and they couldn't drink it fast enough. It's a disgrace, and thankfully it has come to the wider publics attention. Also, why are the horses appearing so tense, wary, and fearful when the caring owners stop by to tend to them? The traffic is a small part of this problem, they should be taken off them. Oh but wait? They are allowed to keep these animals "on the cheap?"

Report this post »

MrChuckles says...
6:05pm Mon 21 May 12

I must add that I have only seen in passing and heard off other people this, so I can't say that the other hours of the day, perhaps they are treat rather well. Just that from what I have heard and the times I have gone past, it doesn't look great.

Report this post »

againsttethering says...
9:06pm Mon 21 May 12

brilliant news :) lets hope other councils follow and make a stand against tethering. Not only is it dangerous, but also cruel and old fashioned. We are a group of like minded people against tethering. You can find our page on facebook - search for "make the tethering of horses, ponies and donkies illegal" (please excuse spelling error, fb wont let us correct). We have a petition up and running and you can find the link on our page.

Report this post »

Guy Fawkes says...
10:07pm Mon 21 May 12

brilliant news :) lets hope other councils follow and make a stand against tethering.


The only actual news is that the council have been told by a government minister, via a local MP, that they probably have the legal right to remove nuisance horses by the roadside.

Note the 'probably'. I don't doubt that if the council actually do this, then snivel liberties lawyers acting for the horses' owners will fight CoYC, using legal aid money, all the way to the Euro court if necessary. Look what happened at Dale Farm.

Secondly, if the council does not have its own stables, people on the payroll who know how to look after horses, vets and all that sort of infrastructure, it is going to need to get them - at our expense, before it can start taking horses away from the roadside.

So we (as in York's taxpayers) could potentially end up with a nightmare scenario whereby we're having to pay tens of thousands a month to impound confiscated horses, while at the same time our council tax is being used to defend a multi-million pound lawsuit brought by their owners.

I'm not saying that the confiscation shouldn't happen, only pointing out that it might not be a quick and easy solution to the problem.

Report this post »

sperare e coraggio says...
11:11pm Mon 21 May 12

The cost of impounding these animals does not have to be a financial burden on local taxpayers. The French pay good money for fresh horsemeat. Once a few have been lost those responsible will get the message.

Report this post »

real_person says...
11:13pm Mon 21 May 12

soooo , because these horses belong to travellers people are saying its stupid to ask them for money for grazing rights??? how would you even know what they would say without asking them??? how about working with the people involved and coming up with an actual solution rather that trying to do something which is obviously going to cause friction? whats wrong with giving them a bit of green belt land to graze the horses on rather than building onit??? since a lot of greenbelt land is being built on? least with horses on it it would still be protected!!!

Report this post »

sperare e coraggio says...
7:51am Tue 22 May 12

Green belt land belongs to someone. You can't just give away someone else's land. It would have to be bought or leased. Who will pay? The travellers??????
The taxpayers!!!!!!!!

Report this post »

Kevin Turvey says...
8:13am Tue 22 May 12

A single bullet to the head costs 10 pence and the problem goes away.
Don't know what to do with the horse problem though!

Report this post »

Big Bad Wolf says...
9:56am Tue 22 May 12

Kevin Turvey wrote:
A single bullet to the head costs 10 pence and the problem goes away.
Don't know what to do with the horse problem though!
Fantastic!!

Report this post »

Boadicea says...
10:21am Tue 22 May 12

Big Bad Wolf wrote:
Kevin Turvey wrote:
A single bullet to the head costs 10 pence and the problem goes away.
Don't know what to do with the horse problem though!
Fantastic!!
What a horrible person.

Report this post »

bolero says...
10:47am Tue 22 May 12

Why do we want to be so soft with these people? They are a blight on the community. They are providing a so-called service to horse owners on the cheap. They have the money; our money incidentally; make them pay for whatever action needs to be taken. This idea of, it will cost money to take action,of course it will, so what do you do? let every Tom, Dick and Harry break the law and do nothing. What a sorry state we would be in.

Report this post »

Guy Fawkes says...
4:42pm Tue 22 May 12

I'm not trying to suggest that they should just be left to get on with it, just pointing out that after 13 years of Labour imposing PC laws around this issue, dealing with this problem is easier said than done. Again, look what happened to Dale Farm - those evictions eventually cost the council involved £30 million, and the national taxpayer got a bill for around another £10 million for the travellers' legal aid.

I agree completely that this situation needs to be sorted out, and the law changed so that is quick, easy and cheap to stop people doing things they shouldn't with land - everything from building an extension without planning permission to illegal camps on the scale of Dale Farm.

My point is that if the council confiscate these horses with the law as it currently is, the result could be a very big bill, and in a few months' time we'll all be ranting on this site about how CoYC has been wasting our council tax over a few horses.

Report this post »

hula says...
5:33pm Tue 22 May 12

Nothing will change!..I have said it for years travellers are a law unto themselves and experience shows they are untouchable at times.They think they are above the law and most probably are in a lot of cases!!.I am led to believe those horses tethered on the side of the 1079 near Dunnington belong to a 'Traveller' who lives in a HOUSE on Tang Hall..I thought Travellers lived in caravans?.

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
10:31pm Tue 22 May 12

What's the problem? I'm with Kevin Turvey.
Shoot 'em and the horses as well........
10 p slug, £300.00 from the glue factory...

Report this post »

MrChuckles says...
10:46pm Tue 22 May 12

Cruelty, nothing more than the hallmark of a coward (Or A Tax Warrior). Some peoples desperation for a reaction on this page is almost as tragic as the actual act of looking an innocent horse in the eye and pulling the trigger would be. I do however now sit in anticipation of the first pitiful, barrel scraping comeback of "Well you eat meat...wah wah wah"! The easy ready made comeback for callous individuals who want to "stick one to the animal lovers". Natural food chain / inflicting death and suffering for no need a fundamental difference is present. (And Yes I eat responsibly sourced meat before the second comeback of.. wah wah wah chickens suffer for meat, yes it's wrong I eat free range! Go Me!). Sigh..although everyone has "an oppinion" and of course they are entitled to it, it is very evident that some people appear so dim on here, it really startles me that they have the ability to display the basic life skills needed to operate a computer to the level needed in setting up a username on this website, yet alone submit comments, then again they wouldn't really want these horses shot! They just want a reaction. Stop the planet I want to get off. P.s On a lighter note the horses had water this morning! I must purchase a lottery ticket at the weekend.

Report this post »

Boadicea says...
9:36am Wed 23 May 12

For the sake of the horses find them somewhere suitable to go, green belt land maybe, and charge the owners. They have to be somewhere.
The horses dont want to be killed and motorists dont want accidents.
As for the morons who want them shot, what I think about them is unprintable.

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
2:58pm Wed 23 May 12

Boadicea, get down from you almighty charriot and take chill pill, we French enjoy a Horse and radish sandwich......
It's time to deal with the morons who own the horses, take them away from them if they won't/can't/don't look after them.
The powers that be won't let any other party treat animals in that way.
Everybody is affraid of upsetting the "Gyppo's"

Report this post »

Boadicea says...
4:11pm Wed 23 May 12

Eric el Rojo what a stupid remark to make "almighty chariot" and chill pill"
Take them away "yes" but what are they going to do with them, send them to a charity which is already full or as some clever morons suggest the glue factory.

Report this post »

Boadicea says...
4:20pm Wed 23 May 12

p.s. my concern is for the horses, not the Gyppos.

Report this post »

bolero says...
7:25pm Wed 23 May 12

I don't think gypsies would treat horses like this. These people are lawless itinerants who wish to live in squalor and filth. They break the law in every way and have no respect for a decent law abiding community. These are nothing but racist comments of which you ought to be ashamed.

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
8:27am Thu 24 May 12

so, who's horses' are these that are on the road side, Farmer Giles ?
Racist? Nonesence
Bolero

Report this post »

bolero says...
9:49pm Thu 24 May 12

If you own or know what a dictionary is Eric el Rojo just have a look at the definition of a `gypsy`. I haven't seen any of these people around York.

Report this post »

Eric el Rojo says...
2:36pm Fri 25 May 12

I agree on that, it's generalizing term for; "lawless itinerants who wish to live in squalor and filth".
The dictionary swipe is a bit harsh !

Report this post »

PinzaC55 says...
5:42pm Sun 27 May 12

TerryYork wrote:
Eric el Rojo wrote:
Glue Factory?
You want them to murder the horses? What a ****.
Ah you must be a vegetarian then?

Report this post »

MrChuckles says...
6:19pm Sun 27 May 12

@PinzaC55 with regards to your shallow, ill thought out and rather pathetic "you must be vegetarian?" argument. I do beleive you should see my comment a few posts above. Please do feel free to comment more once you have read it, as I do beleive any further oppinions and views you put forward will be comedy gold and a worthwhile read.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree