CONVICTED (2016) | horse trader Peter Ash, born 9 September 1958, of Charles Street, Landport, Portsmouth PO1 1JD – failed to get vet treatment for sick horses in his care; three horses later died Heartless Peter Ash sentenced his sick animals to a life of misery because he refused to get them essential veterinary treatment. Ash, who sold horses to the traveling community under the name Peter Ash Gypsy Cobs, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to five equines. RSPCA inspectors found the animals in a poor condition, with some emaciated and others with diarrhoea. One had a weeping eye, and another had dental disease and needed urgent veterinary care. The court heard there were up to 80 horses in the field. Five were found to be in such a poor condition they were seized from Ash and are the basis of charges. Three of these died. Sentencing, district judge Peter Greenfield said: ‘It seems to me that when under pressure as a commercial enterprise you were doing anything to avoid paying the money for treatment, almost like there was an acceptable attrition rate.’ He added Ash did not spend money on treatment for red worm, which can strike horses in a short time, ‘based on profit’ of his business. Ash kept the animals at Braishfield, near Romsey in Hampshire. The court ordered that he will still be allowed to transport and trade horses. He was deprived of the four horses still in RSPCA care – two of which were the foals of the adult horses at the time they were removed. Sentence: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years; 300 hours of unpaid work; fined £1,500. Disqualified from owning, keeping and being involved with the care of any horses for five years (expired April 2021). Express The News