Horse impales itself on fence after being 'frightened by fireworks'

5 November 2019, 21:11

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

A horse has undergone surgery for "very serious wounds" after impaling itself on a fence when he was spooked by "nearby fireworks", the RSPCA has said.

Harry the horse was discovered on Saturday having been impaled overnight in Holywell, North Wales, after trying to escape his enclosure.

RSPCA inspector Jenny Anderton believed the sound of nearby fireworks frightened Harry into trying to hurdle over the fence.

"The horse must have been laying there all night and it took us until 1pm to get him out, get him up and get him on a wagon for the vets to attempt surgery on his very serious wounds, caused by impaling himself on the hedge and fencing," she said.

"We of course don't know for definite, but it seems pretty likely that Harry was frightened by nearby fireworks that were set off."

It took the combined efforts of Harry's owner, a vet and two RSPCA officers to free him after "some time and great difficulty" Insp Anderton added.

She reminded people to be mindful of animals at this time of year, saying "this incident really does show what the effects of fireworks can be."

"We really hope Harry recovers - it is just so sad to think how frightened he must have been and then in so much distress while he was impaled."

Lily Roberts, the owner of the stables where Harry was kept, was horrified by what she saw at the scene.

"He had crushed the hedge and we had to cut the hedge around him. It was just horrible. I had never seen anything like this before," she said.

"I enjoy bonfire night, it's one of my favourite nights of the year and I'm not saying we need to stop it. However, I will be working with local authorities and the RSPCA to prevent things like this happening again."

"I am sick of seeing animals and humans suffer unnecessarily for these things. There are so many fantastic free fireworks displays around - stop setting them off in your back garden."

A spokeswoman for RSPCA Cymru said Harry was being cared for by vets.

The charity said it received 400 calls relating to animals being affected by fireworks in England and Wales last year.

They also launched a campaign called Bang Out Of Order, which seeks to implement noise restrictions on publicly available fireworks and limits their sale around Bonfire Night, New Year's Eve and other similar seasonal festivals.