Armed Forces: Horses
(asked on 16th June 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department's military horses were euthanised in each month in 2014-15; and what the reasons were in each case.
Decisions to euthanise any animal in military service are only taken by a veterinarian officer after all possible treatment avenues have been exhausted and where it is considered to be the most humane option for the animal. The only other scenario where an animal would be euthanised is where it is considered to pose a risk to public safety.
The numbers of horses euthanised by the Department in each month during financial year 2014-15 are provided below.
Military Working Horses Euthanasia Statistics by Month: April 2014 – March 2015
Reason | April 2014 | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | January 2015 | February | March |
Chronic lameness | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Dangerous temperament | 1 | |||||||||||
Enteritis with gut necrosis | 1 | |||||||||||
Immune medicated purpura/vasculitis/ myopathy/ haemolysis | 1 | |||||||||||
Impacted colic | 1 | |||||||||||
Infected wound to fetlock and pastern joint | 1 | |||||||||||
Intestinal entrapment with small torsion | 1 | |||||||||||
Metacarpal osteoarthritis | 1 | |||||||||||
Intestinal entrapment with small torsion | 1 | |||||||||||
Euthanised during colic surgery | 1 | |||||||||||
Sepsis of hock joint | 1 | |||||||||||
Suspected abdominal neoplasia | 1 | |||||||||||
Total: | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |