I am a third year veterinary student studying at the Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. I have been awarded a bursary by World Horse Welfare to undertake a research project over the summer looking at the unwanted horse population in this country. My project is entitled ‘A Study of Awareness and Attitude of the UK Equine Industry Towards an Unwanted Horse Population’.
Unwanted horses have been defined as horses that are no longer wanted by their current owner because they are old, injured, sick, unmanageable, fail to meet their owner’s expectations (e.g., performance, colour or breeding), or their owner can no longer afford them. For this survey the term ‘horse’ refers to horses, ponies and donkeys or any resulting cross of these species.
There has been much speculation made by industry members and by the media that the number of unwanted horses in this country is increasing. At present there is very little information available about unwanted horses in the UK and previous studies have identified a need for reliable unbiased data in order to understand whether and to what extent a problem exists.
This survey aims to gather information by asking directly for the opinions of people from a broad cross section of the horse industry. These opinions will enable assessment of the problem and identify any differing opinions or suggested solutions between groups that comprise the industry.
Please take the 5 minutes that it will take to complete the on-line survey so that your valuable opinion can be included in my study. The survey is completely anonymous and there are spaces for additional comments should you wish to make any. The information you provide in this questionnaire will not be passed to any other party or used for any other purpose.
Thank you very much for your participation.
Natalie Sim
