Episode 20 Animal 24:7

Britain's animals are under threat.

All too often our wildlife and domestic pets

are the victims of cruelty, persecution and neglect.

Fighting to save them is a dedicated band of people,

trying to protect and care for them right around the clock.

This is Animal 24/7.

Today on Animal 24/7,

rescue for the cat locked in a high-rise flat...

I'm really wondering whether he does think this is acceptable.

A close shave rounding up these frightened horses...

Ah-ah-ah!

No, no, no, no, no, no!

And vets try to help Jake, a much-loved African grey...

-That was what alerted you, was it, that wheezing?

-Yeah.

I came in late last night,

the telly was off, and I thought, what's that noise?

And I could hear it.

In an ideal world, horses like these should be given the chance to graze and exercise in a paddock.

But it's important that gates and fences are secure,

especially if the field is close to roads.

In the West Midlands, there are reports that three horses have been escaping due to inadequate fencing.

But that's not all - they're all also in poor condition.

In Cannock, Staffordshire, this small field is home to three horses,

and they're in a dreadful state.

There's barely any grass for them to eat - they seem to be desperately searching for nourishment.

It's littered with rubbish, and the fence has collapsed.

More worryingly, the horses have been escaping onto a nearby road.

Now, someone has complained about their care.

Paul Teasdale, from World Horse Welfare,

is first on the scene.

The member of the public rang our

head office yesterday, concerned about the horses here.

I got the call and I've turned up this morning.

Luckily, the owner turned up while I was here, so that saves a lot of

knocking on doors and tramping around.

-And then RSPCA Penny turned up as well.

-Hi, Paul, how are you doing?

We work independently, but very often we come together,

because people ring the two organisations.

So very often we work very well together.

Inspector Penny Baker has had contact with these horses before,

and her biggest worry is safety.

These horses have already been out on the road several times,

and they've been rescued if you like by the police and put back into the paddock,

and temporary...

measurements have been put in place by the owner.

But clearly you can see from different parts of the field,

where the fencing is so poor they could literally

just walk out onto the road.

Paul and owner Kevin Branwell begin by checking the fencing.

Won't keep the horses in or out, so that needs sorting out.

Very insecure.

Let's get this pulled up now and get it in.

Paul and Kevin do what they can, but a more permanent solution is going to be needed.

You're lucky you've not lost them all together, really, aren't you?

The next concern is the horses themselves.

There's two of the horses quite substantially underweight.

All three need their feet sorting out.

It's not diabolical but they do need their feet sorting out.

I would say they've not been trimmed for about six months.

There's a lice infestation in a couple of the horses,

and a general air of neglect around the place.

Penny and Paul have seen enough.

They know that something needs to be done here.

The problem with this field is, grass-wise,

the pasture is just not suitable for that horse to put on

the amount of condition that it needs to put on.

You have a chat, I'll go and ring the vet.

The owner is keen to co-operate.

Paul explains the plan.

Penny's now ringing the local vet's to see if they can get down here

and find out what's wrong.

They may have to take blood samples and dung samples to find out if there's any internal parasites.

Obviously we've got external parasites, so we need to sort it out.

The owner's been very co-operative, he's quite willing to

take any advice that the vet's going to issue.

We're just waiting for the vet to arrive, so we're just going to try and catch the horses.

But they're not used to being caught on a regular basis.

So we have to be very quiet, and the way be behave is

critical as to whether we'll be able to put her hands on the horses.

So we'll see.

Don't do anything fast, just nice and slowly.

Rounding up timid horses can be dangerous.

It's a tense time for all.

Just watch them.

With one down, there's two to go.

Kevin, if you give me her and see if you can get a rope on the other one.

Yep, that's probably the most difficult one caught.

I think now we've caught her, we should be up to get the other one.

But Penny has spoken too soon.

The horses are becoming agitated.

It's clear they're not going to be as easy to catch as first thought.

The stallion is spooked, and makes a break for it.

The mare heads straight towards a hole in the fence...

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! No, no, no, no, no, no.

And is moments away from running into oncoming traffic.

She's back, Kevin.

But a tragedy is averted.

Not to worry, not to worry.

Penny decides it's best to wait a while before trying again.

There are several issues -

the first one has to be health and safety for the people who are in the

field, including the owner, because a stallion can potentially

be a really aggressive animal.

But the vet is just minutes away.

The clock is ticking, and these two horses will have to be caught.

-Later...

-We're trying to cut her off in the corner here.

Before we were concerned that she was going to try and dive out over the fence, so we've put a gate there.

And ingenious methods to help Jake breathe more easily...

This is fantastic innovation, using clingfilm to seal a...

This is a home-grown...

-It's an oxygen tent.

-You're absolutely right, that's what it is.

When a pet owner goes on holiday, it's their

responsibility to make sure their animals are properly taken care of.

Sadly, though, the RSPCA often come across cases where people go away

and fail to make the proper arrangements for their pets' care.

RSPCA inspector Claire Fisher is about to encounter just one such case.

This tower block is a dangerous place for a cat

to be locked in on its own.

Inspector Claire Fisher has been to this high-rise before.

She believes the pet has been abandoned for days.

This is the flat that we've had the cat has been left.

We're now on day five.

The cat has been getting fed by us, so that's not an issue.

We put card seals in a door frame to see if anybody's been attending.

As of yesterday the seals were still in the door frame,

so we need to get the cat out.

It's a long way up.

And when Claire finally arrives, she's immediately faced with a dilemma.

OK, I do not believe it.

The seals have gone, and puss...is

still there.

The cat's still sounding like it just wants to come out.

So I think I just need to get on the blower,

make some calls and see if we can get the police out.

Although someone's recently been in,

Claire has been told the owner's actually abroad.

She can also prove the cat has been left for 72 hours,

and this is not acceptable.

The police are called to help her get inside.

We should be getting the cat out if we can.

Now, Claire can find out what's going on.

Her suspicion that this cat's not getting much human company

increases as soon as she gets inside.

Just seeing that he's put down an absolute shedload of food.

These bowls suggest no-one's expected back in a hurry.

We've now got lots of food, because either the owner

or someone has been in since one o'clock yesterday.

But the amount of water is woefully short of what's needed.

The most pathetic water container,

which I'd say is not even a centimetre of water.

Given that he's feeding it dried food, you know, they need a large supply of water. So that is pathetic.

The food might last for days, but with nothing to drink, the cat would soon suffer.

With the frightened pet now in hiding, Claire tries to coax it out.

Hello, chicken! I know.

She finds it cowering behind the TV.

Where's your dad?

Hey? It's all right, chicken.

Shaking like a leaf!

Bless her! Come on, then,

in you go. We're actually in all right nick...

Claire believes the cat is left alone while its owner

often spends time away.

And although it's being fed, if the cat became ill or injured,

there would be no-one around to help it.

This actually looks in good nick.

It's got a glossy enough coat, a good weight.

So, I'm really wondering whether he does think this is acceptable.

And for all we know, this is what he's done

for the whole of this cat's life, maybe, I don't know - left it for four-day periods,

maybe that's just normal to him.

It may be healthy for now, but Claire's not confident its needs are being met.

She leaves a note for the owner explaining why

-she's had to act.

-Just doing a property receipt, and a form,

which is, animals left unattended,

basically explaining that I have removed the cats, and the reason why.

And then hopefully he'll get in touch.

With the cat safely out of its high-rise prison,

Claire will continue to monitor the flat over the next few days.

I've resealed the door, so we can see if he was intending to disappear

again for a few days,

or if he is now going in daily. Yes, I will be back to check on that.

And we're now just getting the cat to the vet's.

While cats can be left to their own devices for short periods, Claire

knows this cat has already been left for 72 hours - this is far too long.

Claire wants to know if this cat's isolation is taking its toll.

-Hello, how are you doing?

-What have you got?

This is the puddy cat that I was telling you about.

Vet Robert McNulty checks to see if everything is OK.

Age-wise, from its teeth, it's an adult.

But they're nice and clean, so it's only a young adult.

Let's have a look at your skin pinch...

No dehydration there, which is good.

She seems alert and active, and there's no evidence that she's lacking nutrition.

-Her body condition is good.

-It is, isn't it?

So it's obviously being well looked-after.

Yes. Just strange, isn't it?

But while her health may not be at risk, her life of being left home

alone is something Claire is determined to tackle.

I think if anything, it's just more the lack of contact.

Because as the days

were going on, she was yowling at the door.

But it would seem on the face of it that she is a well looked-after cat.

But we've just got this issue of being left for days,

which is just not acceptable.

So, we'll just have to wait and get contact from the owner,

take it from there, really.

For now, this cat will remain in the RSPCA's care.

Right, little one.

-Food and water.

-Look, lots of water!

Claire's next job is to trace the owner to find out what exactly has been going on.

Oh, bless her,

poor little thing.

-Later...

-Come on!

OK, bye-bye.

..Claire tracks down a street-fighting Tom.

He's got a puncture wound on his front leg.

He obviously looks like somebody's cat,

so the best thing is to take him to the vet's.

And does this horse need the RSPCA's help?

You can tell he's old, can't you?

The fact that he's losing his coat

doesn't make him look fantastic, does it?

Parrots make popular pets

due to their bright colours and sociable nature.

This means they can often form affectionate bonds with their owners.

So when they become ill it can be a very difficult time.

I'm spending a day at Abbey House Vets in Leeds.

It's a busy morning.

But it's not your usual cats and dogs that are dominating the day today.

Mrs Bishop, please.

Ken and Pauline Bishop have just rushed in with their pet,

an African Grey parrot.

Right. Now, can you pop Max down on the table, Mr Bishop?

We have a little look.

Let's have a little look before we do anything else.

-If you listen you can hear him.

-I can hear him.

Vet Tom Clarke spots the problem immediately.

-LOW WHEEZING

-Can we hear that?

Max is struggling to breathe.

That was what alerted you, that wheezing?

Yes. We came in late last night,

the telly was off and I thought, what's that noise?

I could hear him in the corner. He was all right all day yesterday.

-Was he?

-Yeah.

-It started about 7pm last night.

-How old is he?

-About 15.

-Ok. Never had had any problems like this before really?

Not with the wheezing.

Max is a dearly loved family pet.

It's a worrying time for Pauline and Ken.

If you just take the top off, Mr Bishop, we have a little look see.

There we go. Hello, Max.

Tom's first job is to give Max some antibiotics

in case the wheezing is caused by an infection.

Just a little tiny bit of that, if you can give that to him.

Then we are going to

pop him straight back in there.

Pop him in there, just put the lid back on again

so he doesn't go anywhere.

You can have that towel if you want, that's fine.

But whatever is causing his breathing problems, things are not looking good for Max.

What are you thinking of the possibilities here?

Some sort of respiratory infection,

maybe pneumonia or something like that is a possibility.

What I'd say to you is I think he is quite poorly really.

When they get to this sort of stage, I think I'd be fairly concerned.

What we might do is give him a little bit of oxygen over the next

-12 hours or so, just see if that helps improve his breathing.

-OK.

Max is transferred to a nearby treatment room.

I help the team built a makeshift oxygen tank.

This is fantastic innovation. Using clingfilm to seal it.

-Home-grown oxygen tent.

-It's an oxygen tent really.

You are absolutely right, that's what it is.

With the clingfilm rolled out, it's time to get the oxygen pumping.

Now Max will just have to be left to see if this helps him

breathe more easily.

But it doesn't have the speedy results they were hoping for.

Now Tom has the difficult job

of delivering the news to Ken and Pauline.

Tom, we are all a little gloomy about Max.

-Is that accurate?

-I think so.

I was just saying to Mrs Bishop

he is obviously... He's got to a point where he's struggling.

Once they get to that point...

There's a lot of residual capacity in the lungs and

in the air sacs which birds have to allow them to breathe

when they've lost a certain percentage,

but when he's gets to the point where he's starting to gasp like that, it means a lot of his lung wall is

not working probably, therefore it's indicative of him being quite poorly.

The only other thing that sometimes happens - we

talk about foreign bodies - sometimes they get a thing called aspergillus,

which is a fungal infection, but that's

usually a chronic condition, it comes on slowly over time, not the speed with which Max has become unwell.

He seemed fine yesterday afternoon.

Max is still struggling to breathe.

Ken and Pauline leave for home and will wait for news.

We shall speak to you later then.

-Thank you.

-Bye bye now.

It's going to be a worrying afternoon.

Bye-bye.

Max isn't the only parrot wanting to see the vet.

In the waiting room now are Fred and Susan Nolan,

with their one-year-old green parrot, Jake.

Jake is another much-loved pet, despite an unusual disability.

This parrot has just one foot...

A problem he has had since he was young.

OK, so what's the problem, what's been happening with him?

He doesn't normally drink a lot of water.

-Right.

-And he's been guzzling.

He's bringing it back up.

How long has he been doing that for?

-Only a few days.

-OK. Is he actually taking food at the moment?

-He's eating, yeah.

-So his appetite is quite good.

I am slightly concerned about him,

particularly the drinking in large quantities.

There are investigations that maybe we could perform.

Those investigations would be made to take some blood from him just to see...

They can suffer from things, although he's quite young,

but they can suffer from things like diabetes and the like, liver disease.

Maybe we should look into that.

Unfortunately the sample needs to go away to an external laboratory,

so we may not have all the results

but certainly we should have something we should be able to talk

to you about and they can take a blood glucose from him straight away,

so that would maybe rule out or rule in the diabetes.

While Fred and Susan take a seat in the waiting room...

Shall we see if we can get young Jake out?

Tom and vet nurse Sam Rawle get to grips with Jake.

How tricky is it to find veins in small animals like birds?

In fact, this vein is quite large.

It's just a question of finding the little groove where there are no

feathers which allows us to see what we need to see.

How much blood do you take from a parrot?

A mil will be plenty for his size.

I'm just going to give this now to one of our nurses,

who's just going to do a blood glucose on it.

All right, Jake.

This vets has its own lab and can test for some things in-house.

Blood glucose levels are one thing they can check for.

The process is quick and within minutes the results are back.

-14.6.

-That's lovely, thanks.

After a quick check in his manual, it seems the news is good.

What is the book saying?

It's saying anything that is persistently above 20 mls per litre

would be consistent with diabetes.

The fact is at 14 we are still within the normal range.

OK at the moment, no evidence of diabetes.

That will be a great relief to them because I guess it's a serious condition.

It is serious and quite difficult to treat in birds.

In the waiting room it's been an anxious half-hour for Jake's owners.

-Mrs Nolan, please.

-But now Tom can give them the good news.

-Hello.

-Hello again.

Right, OK.

It doesn't appear that there's any diabetes at present.

At this stage it's not clear quite why he's drinking as much,

but for the time being what we are going

to do is put him on a little bit of antibiotics, just in case there's a bit of infection grumbling on here.

Then we are going to take him home,

keep a close eye on him and wait for the results to come back.

I can hear him coming now.

In we come. That's it.

That's lovely, thank you very much.

Here we go. Here's the man himself.

How relieved are you to find out he doesn't have diabetes?

That's the big thing, isn't it?

I thought he was a bit young to have diabetes but

you don't know, do you? He could have anything.

At least he's got an all-clear on that one.

Sadly, a few hours after filming,

Max, the African Grey parrot did pass away.

But for Jake the news is more positive.

So Thursday is hopefully the final all-clear, is it?

All being well, yes. Back to normal.

I hope he's good and Jake stays on his peg for very much longer.

He's certainly different.

Later, the cat hurt in a street brawl shows off his fighting skills.

Now back to Staffordshire where RSPCA Inspector Penny Baker

and World Horse Welfare field officer Paul Teesdale

are responding to a call about three unhealthy-looking horses.

The field has broken fences and large gaps in the hedgerow.

Penny and Paul have so far managed to catch one of the horses

but are having problems getting close to the remaining two.

Go on, girl.

The vet has now arrived.

The pressure is on to catch these two horses.

Pass it to your mate there.

But conditions have taken a turn for the worse.

And the horses are frightened.

Now Paul has a plan.

We are trying to get them in the corner and see if we can

get the lead rope on her.

Before, we were concerned that she was going to try and

dive out over the fence at the bottom, because it's quite low.

So we put a date there to prevent that happening hopefully.

And the owner is now going to see if he can quietly get hold of her without too much fuss.

Cos he says once we've got hold of her she is very quiet.

All right.

Success at last!

Hold on, hold on. Just hold on a second while he gets the loop on.

Well done, Kevin.

Just nice and quiet, just let them walk through.

And with the mare caught...

The stallion decides to play ball, too.

He gallops towards his mate,

where vet Jonathon Withers is waiting to start examinations.

The bay horse is the first to be checked.

Penny explains to the owner, Kevin, what will happen.

We've called the vet to have a thorough look at the horses

and see what his opinion is and what his advice would be.

We will go along with whatever his recommendations are.

We would just take a little sample of

the droppings and have that analysed,

see if there's any problem with worm eggs.

Probably as well, just to see her general health,

we would probably get a blood sample taken.

So we will do that and take those two samples.

There is some evidence of lice eggs here

so that will need to be treated because she's got an area here

where she has rubbed over her withers quite badly,

and that's raw and a little bit sensitive there.

I think we need to get that cleaned up slightly.

That's quite straightforward to treat. We can get you some

powder for that. It needs two treatments a couple of weeks apart.

Jonathan takes blood and stool samples from all of the horses.

They will all need

treatment for

the lice, that's the first thing.

The mare one has particularly been rubbing herself quite badly,

she's got some skin sores there which will need to be taken care of.

All the feet will need routine treatment with your farrier.

And I would recommend that you have their teeth looked at.

Probably I would recommend they are re-examined in about two to three weeks' time.

With the medical assessment complete,

Penny and Paul turn their attention to the state of the paddock.

The fencing is inadequate and there's very little grass.

Certainly not enough to feed three hungry horses.

Penny and Paul are not prepared to wait.

They insist two of the horses are found new, more suitable fields straight away.

The mares are moved to a paddock down the road.

The stallion will now have to live on his own for a while.

It's three weeks later and Penny has arranged to meet Paul Teasdale

again to inspect the horses.

They are hoping to see significant improvements.

Hello, Paul, how are you doing?

So the last time we came,

I know he started doing some of the post and rail

where the main holes were.

It's still not horse friendly though, is it?

Since their last visit the stallion has escaped onto the road again.

He's now tethered to the ground for his own safety.

Some people wouldn't like the fact that he's tethered but in this case it actually is protecting the horse

because it does mean that he's not going to be getting out onto the road.

The stallion has been wormed and there are visible improvements in his condition.

Good boy.

It's an encouraging sign, so Penny and Paul set off to find the mares.

The mares should be in here somewhere.

Much better field, isn't it?

Their new home is ideal, with secure boundaries and plenty of lush grass.

Straight away Penny can see that it's having

a positive effect on the horses.

The bay, I'm really pleased with her.

She looks 100 % better.

She's incredible, isn't she?

Paddock full of good grass and that's what it can do.

Nice trotter!

There's still work to be done here and Penny and Paul will be on hand

to make sure the horses get the attention they need.

I think in another four weeks again she'd look

almost back to normal.

But for now they are delighted with the improvements they've seen.

I'm really pleased with the bay mare, she looks fantastic.

The coloured mare, she doesn't look as good as the bay mare but she's put

on some condition since last time,

but I think we will strive towards getting that even better if we can.

We'll get there. The main thing is to get these two into this solid grazing.

They are both looking better now, and it's just a case of following up

now and making sure that the rest of it gets sorted out.

Still to come...

The bedraggled horse with a remarkable past.

He won six races.

What made you keep him and look after him throughout his old years?

-He looked after me.

-He looked after you.

Cats are notoriously independent animals, but there are limits to how

much they can be expected to look after themselves.

Earlier, we saw RSPCA inspector Clare Fisher

rescue a pet from a block of flats.

Now she's been called to help a street-fighting tom cat

whose latest turf war has left him battered and bruised.

When it comes to unneutered male cats

there's never a problem too far away.

RSPCA inspector Clare Fisher has been called to a part of Wallasey in Merseyside

where the battle over territory has left one cat seriously hurt.

We just got a call for a collection of a cat.

It's meant to have some injuries.

It sounds like it's been caught in a fight this morning.

The cat has got no recognised owner

and Clare is struggling to track it down.

Here, puss, puss, puss, puss, puss.

She eventually able to see it...

Come on.

But it remains out of reach.

Come on.

He's gone down that way now. Come on.

He's a little bedraggled.

From that bit of walking I've just seen he seems to be OK,

he doesn't seem to be... Come on. OK, bye-bye.

He doesn't seem to be limping from what I saw just there.

With the help of a neighbour...

-I think he's back.

-Is he?

Clare finally manages to get the cat contained.

Got you!

And it's clear it's not the first time he's been in the wars.

I think we have got some... All right...

Some fresh...

Some sort of cuts on his head.

Then it was the debate of whether he was limping as well.

Probably the best bet is to get him into the vets for a check over.

He has been in a fight, he's got a puncture wound on his front leg.

He obviously looks like somebody's cat,

so what we are going to do is taking to the vets, get him

checked over and then we are going to just have to release him

because he's obviously somebody's cat.

He's in good nick.

Cats often wander away from home

but most of the time know exactly where they are.

Thank you very much. No problem.

See you then. Bye.

But he does need medical help.

Vet Robert McNulty checks for a microchip.

There's a shock.

It's no surprise, is it?

There's a surprise.

But he's not on any register,

so Robert turns his attention to his bites.

This looks like an old injury.

-Is that not today?

-And then a new...

-CAT HISSES

-OK!

-Hey, all right.

It's sore.

-It hurts.

-Good boy.

And with the cat becoming feisty,

the two decide to proceed with extra care.

Do we want gloves?

-I can go and get you a pair of gloves while we jab him.

-Okey doke.

Let's get him some antibiotics that will last him about seven days,

and then we'll try him with some painkillers as well.

This is a typical uncastrated male.

He's been out fighting before.

Some of the injuries are today's.

The one on his leg looks like today's injury on top of a previous old injury.

This is a hardened fighter, he's been out for a while, chewing on the local cats.

Ideally someone should take the responsibility

and get him castrated.

Antibiotics will prevent the bite becoming infected.

-Oh, you're such a good cat.

-Good fella.

-Good boy.

And with one more bad-tempered protest...

CAT WHINES

he's back in his cage.

-There we go, all right. He's obviously having a bad day.

-He's having a very bad day!

Ideally, Claire would like to see this tom castrated

before it's returned to the street.

Good boy.

But first, she needs the owner's permission.

With little to go on, she has no option but to knock on a few doors.

The cat must live somewhere around here.

There doesn't appear to be anyone in here, either.

But no-one's coming forward to claim him.

It's a fruitless task.

Another leave-a-card.

And eventually, she has to give up.

My inquiries have just drawn a blank.

Nobody knows where the cat lives.

I think the best bet to be honest is, the cat has had its injections,

maybe pick it up tomorrow just to

make sure everything's settled, the injections are fine, and just bring the cat back and release it,

and no doubt it will find its way home.

Back on her beat again, and Claire's about to confront

a different cat owner, who left his pet alone for far too long.

This cat had been marooned in a flat many floors up,

and although it had plenty of food, its water supply was drying up.

They need a large supply of water, so that is pathetic.

Claire was worried its welfare needs weren't being met, and today she is

back at the flat to assess whether the cat should be returned.

Right, well, I've just interviewed the owner of the cat.

In my eyes, we need to be holding on to this cat for the time being.

It's not ideal, from what he's told me.

She was on her own, basically,

she's only getting visited every other day, whilst he was away.

It's not ideal at all.

She needs company, she needs contact.

You need that every day,

this is what we should be providing as animal owners.

So, I've got all the paperwork.

I'll get it sent off,

and prosecutions will make their decision.

But within a few weeks, the owner himself had a change of heart.

He agreed to sign the cat over to the RSPCA -

a move which meant the cat was found a new home,

where she has the attention she needs.

Earlier today, we saw RSPCA inspector Penny Baker

working with an owner to improve the lives

of three neglected horses in Staffordshire.

Although Penny loves all animals, she has a soft spot for horses.

So, when she has to investigate equine cases,

it can be the most distressing,

or the most satisfying part of her job.

Standing alone, bedraggled and skinny,

this horse appears to be in a very poor state.

A concerned member of the public has now called the RSPCA.

Inspector Penny Baker is on the scene.

The first thing she needs is to get a good look at the horse,

but that's not as simple as it might seem.

The problem is, because it's behind the small tree, I can't actually make an assessment.

And rather than just walk right up to it, not knowing the animal,

we'll go and make some enquiries and see if we can find out who it belongs to.

Penny turns detective.

She's hoping the person in the house next to the field can point her in the direction of the horse's owner.

Hello there, good morning, Inspector Baker from the RSPCA.

The neighbour, Alan, knows who the owner is,

and seems to know quite a lot about the horse, too.

He's a good age, then, how old did you say, 36?

-36 or 37.

-Blimey, blimey.

Alan believes this elderly horse is well cared for.

But Penny needs to see it for herself,

so the neighbour allows her into the back garden to get a closer look.

You can tell he's old, can't you?

He's kept in here on his own, is he?

-Yes.

-The fact that he's losing his coat

doesn't make him look fantastic, does it?

He's old, you know.

-It comes to us all, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Penny's encouraged by what she's seen so far.

Thank you very much for your time.

Bye-bye.

Now she knows the horse is over 30 years old,

she's less concerned about his shabby appearance.

The horse is genuinely a very old horse, and taking that into account,

he might not look aesthetically brilliant,

but he's shedding his coat, which is normal at this time of year.

But before she leaves, she wants to try and get a closer look.

She knows from previous experience that's often much easier said than done.

Hey, buddy.

Every time Penny approaches the horse, it walks away.

Not wanting to distress him, she decides to call it a day.

I think that's a sign of an old horse with good mobility,

who doesn't want to be caught.

He's quite agile for his age.

He's not going to be caught, he doesn't know me

and I'm a stranger to him, so he's a little bit wary of me.

But just as she's about to head home, the horse's owner,

Geoff Woodhouse, unexpectedly turns up.

Hi, how are you doing? Inspector Baker from the RSPCA.

And Penny discovers that this old horse has a truly remarkable history.

He was three-and-a-half when I bought him,

and he's 31.

He's 31 years old.

So you've had him since he was three?

-Yes.

-And what's the history of him?

I bought him as a racehorse, a thoroughbred.

-So he actually raced?

-He won six races, really good races, yeah.

-So you were an owner, and you had a jockey riding.

-Yes.

What was his race name?

-Bryanston Belle.

-Bryanston Belle.

In his heyday, Bryanston Belle was a champion horse.

He raced both hurdles and chases.

Geoff clearly has fond memories of their racing days together.

Now he intends to pay his champion back by giving him the care he needs in his latter years.

You'll very often hear about ex-racehorses not having the

best of a life when they get older -

what made you keep him and look after him throughout his old years?

Well, he looked after me!

I think that's a fair enough deal, isn't it?

Yeah, so I look after him.

Against all odds, what started as a report of potential animal neglect

has turned into a story of loving care on the final straight.

This horse has really landed on his feet, as it were,

because he's got an owner that clearly loves him dearly,

and he'll be here till his last days,

living the life of Riley, in a lovely field where he gets groomed by neighbours,

and he's well-known in the local neighbourhood.

So I think that's a really lovely ending to this story.

If you think you know of a case of wildlife crime,

or a creature that needs immediate protection,

remember, there are people out there who will answer your call right around the clock.

They are the people we meet on Animal 24/7.

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