British woman banned from owning animals in the U.K. has stables in Cádiz

British woman banned from owning animals in the U.K. has stables in Cádiz
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By h.b. - Nov 16, 2008 - 9:21 AM

The condition of one of the horses in Cádiz last July - Photo Seprona/20minutos.es

The Guardia Civil inspected the stables at Medina Sedonia in July and found horses in a dreadful state being kept in dirty facilities. Without a technical report from the Junta they cannot act.

A British woman, Suzanne Jenkins, who has been ordered by a court in Gloucestershire in the U.K. not to own any animals for two years after causing ‘unnecessary suffering’, is currently running a finca with 35 horses in Medina Sedonia in Cádiz.

The British authorities had to put down five horses and ordered her to pay a 1000 pound fine.

Here in Spain, Seprona, the environment section of the Guardia Civil visited her property in July where they think 17 horses had died because of the dreadful conditions in which they were being kept. One was found held up in a sling, being too weak to stand on its own feet.

Suzanne Jenkins blamed the poor quality of the local water and hay for the condition of the animals, and the regional agriculture department in Andalucía confirmed that the water sent to it for analysis from the finca had a high salt content, although Ms. Jenkins spoke also of a virus. She had, it seems, made similar claims for the conditions of her animals in the United Kingdom.

20 minutos newspaper revisited the finca in Medina Sedonia last week and reports that there has been an improvement in the condition of the animals, but still considers that the facilities and cleanliness are inadequate.

However Ms. Jenkins brought 52 horses from the U.K. and now there are only 35. Animal protection groups believe the rest have died, but without a technical report from the Junta de Andalucía, the Guardia Civil say they cannot act.

Suzanne’s father Mike, told Público newspaper at the doors to the property that her daughter is now in the U.K. to appeal against her sentence there, but it begs the question how can someone banned from owning animals in Britain, calmly establish a stables here in Spain?

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