Wendy Davies, founder of an equine rescue centre, has been given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs for failing to meet basic animal needs. The 75-year-old pleaded guilty to one welfare offence and was found guilty of nine others at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on 5 March. The charges involved pigs and poultry kept at her facility, with no equids implicated.
Wendy Davies established the Isleham Horse And Pony Rescue Centre in the 1990s after starting to rescue horses nearly four decades earlier. The centre's website describes it as providing a forever home for horses and other animals. However, officers from Cambridgeshire County Council Trading Standards visited Willow Tree Stables, where the centre operates, on several occasions. A council spokesperson noted that Davies received extensive advice from Trading Standards and veterinary surgeons from the Animal and Plant Health Agency but failed to provide for the basic needs of her livestock.
Inspections revealed pigs living without suitable housing, a dry area to lie down, access to water, and in hazardous conditions. Poultry were housed in a dirty environment, with medicine records and reports of deceased animals not maintained. These issues led to Davies pleading guilty to one animal welfare offence and being found guilty at trial of nine additional charges related to welfare and disease control.
At sentencing on 5 March, the court imposed a two-year conditional discharge, meaning Davies must avoid further breaches of animal welfare and disease control legislation during that period, or face immediate sentencing. She was also ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
Cambridgeshire County Council’s Peter Gell emphasized the importance of animal care standards. "Farmers and smallholders in the county work tirelessly to meet their animals’ needs and comply with disease control measures," he said. "As an authority, we are committed to tackling those who don’t meet these standards, who don’t uphold the welfare of the animals in their care, or who jeopardise our local animal and poultry stocks by taking short cuts on disease control measures."
The council spokesperson added: "Those who keep livestock must take animal welfare responsibilities seriously; letting animals suffer is not acceptable especially when there is advice and support available. Trading Standards will continue to take action to prevent suffering when it’s identified and use the sanctions available to deter others from offending."