Stop feeding animals that don’t belong to you, raged on Facebook the owner of a very rare pregnant mare that died last week after being fed by passers-by despite numerous signs prohibiting it.
“When will people learn! Our horses are well looked after, fed a balanced diet and lack nothing! Why does the general public think it’s OK to feed other people’s livestock without permission?” complained breeder William Medforth on Facebook, The Telegraph reported on Monday.
Last week, the owner of the pregnant mare named Harmony found her lifeless in his paddock in Wales after apparently being fed by a well-meaning but “ignorant” passer-by, the man complained to British media.
The problem, however, is that the mare was one of the rare horses of the Cleveland Bays breed, which are “endangered and in decline,” with a maximum of about twenty females being born each year worldwide.
This loss alone would be detrimental to the entire species, which would be rarer than the giant pandas previously considered endangered.
“And because of a selfish individual, […] We have now lost one of our most productive broodmares and her unborn foal,” he continued on Facebook. You wouldn’t go up to someone and give their dog chocolate, so don’t feed our animals!”
It is not yet clear what feed caused the mare’s death, but it was the breeder’s second loss in three years under the same circumstances. He therefore appealed to the public to avoid feeding any animal as the health consequences may be much greater than expected.
“People may think that carrots are fine for horses, but if you cut them wrong you can suffocate them. “So please don’t interfere with their diet, you could kill them with your ignorance,” he concluded to ” The Telegraph”.