Should I share it on social media?

We always advise against sharing a post that you’ve seen about on social media about a horse in a poor state as there are a number of significant pitfalls with this approach. Such content can be exaggerated, out of date or misinformed and sharing it could also be detrimental to the rescue of a horse or to any potential action against the person responsible.

Sharing images on social media might warn a neglectful or abusive owner that they are due to be visited and lead to them removing their horse – or even temporarily improving their care – leaving us unable to find the horse and/or remove them. Welfare officers frequently work very hard over a period of time to develop lines of communication with owners in order to get access to horses which may be of concern and, sadly, such owners can very quickly cut off communication if they feel they are being publicly criticised.

We fully appreciate how upsetting and frustrating it can be to see images of horses in distress on social media, but even in cases where the images are current sharing them is unlikely to improve the outcome for the animals. If you are concerned by any photographs or videos you see on social media, please ask the person who took the originals to report the situation to us as soon as they can. It would also be helpful to encourage the person who posted them to take the images down so the owner is not made aware before we can investigate.

Read more

• Worried about a horse?
• What kind of situations should be reported?
• Should I intervene if I’m worried about a horse?
• Want to report useful information which isn’t about a welfare concern?
• Worried about a horse outside the UK?