USK HORSE FAIR OCTOBER 7th

Usk Horse Fair. 7/10/07 Report by EMW Wales
We arrived at Usk horse fair at approximately 11am, to find the police and
trading standards in attendance. We were delighted at their presence
and found them already hard at work, checking passports and vehicle
documents etc.
  The new venue, at Usk show ground, was already very busy with horses,
donkeys, puppies, cats , kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs and a whole variety
of birds offered for sale.
  In general, the equines were not in to poor a condition although we did
see a little Shetland  with a bleeding mouth. After talking with the
owner, the bit was removed.
  The same cannot be said for the countless dogs and puppies. We saw a
litter of sheepdog pups covered in their own urine and feaces. A young
Beagle bitch spent the day tied to a table leg. She was thin and
frightened. On another stall a Border terrier was tied so tightly with
baler twine that he could not breath, fortunately the twine was slackened
after we intervened . Another litter of pup's were suffering from flea bite
allergy or mange. They were on sale for £200.00 each.
  Very young rabbits were having a hard time as children bought them and
played with the frightened animals like toys. We found some boys letting
their rabbit loose so they could then catch it, over and over again.
    One stall had a variety of poultry for sale. Many of the hens had very
few feathers and had been pecking each other so were covered in sores. We
brought the worst of them home with us and today they were basking in the
warm sun, enjoying their freedom.
  As we were about to leave we saw one of the sellers getting a Collie out
of the back of a land rover.

We followed the man back to his stall to find
the young bitch tied up and on sale. Apparently, asked the man if he was
interested in the dog, he was and so the deal was done. Some young men were
already in negotiations with the seller, trying to buy the little bitch.
Because she was so frightened and in such dreadful condition, we pushed in,
handed over the money and brought her home. Enough was enough, she had
already had two owners that day, we made sure her last home would be permanent.
  On arrival home, our little dog Ruby, was introduced to the rest of our
gang. It was a little overwhelming but she soon got used to them and
already has a firm friend, Minnie, who came from Usk last year.
  Ruby was covered in mats , very dirty and has sore skin. She has been
bathed ,wormed, fed, hugged, kissed and given a comfy bed to sleep on. Ruby
is the sweetest little dog you could wish for and even let us clip her
badly overgrown toe nails!! Today she has been for two walks and is curled
up with Minnie on her bed.
  It is not EMW's policy to line the pockets of this dreadful trade,
however, seeing this sort of suffering does have an affect on us, as animal
lovers and it is a great comfort to see a happy little Ruby today and to
know that she is safe.
  This was the last Usk Fair of the year although others are cropping up
all the time. We will continue to monitor these sales as long as they
continue to run.
  Our very grateful thanks to Trading standards and the police for their
attendance yesterday.
    Equine Market Watch.

Report by 'Jo'
I attended Usk with Equine Market Watch on Sunday.T
This was my first horse fair, I have been to auctions but this was different.
I could not believe the amount of puppies, dogs, baby rabbits, kittens ,guinea pigs,ferrets, chickens and all manners of birds for sale
Most were scared. I noticed some dogs being sold from one person to another, poor things didn't know if they were coming and going.
We notice a shetland with the halter around its eyes, we tried loosening it but it would not budge so a little later 
we went back and the owner let us in to the back of the horse lorry with the pony. 
I asked that the owner change the halter and she did .I made out I was really interested in buying the filly, Idon't think
she would have bothered to change it had I not shown interest!
There were a lot of coloureds (horses) there . When we first got there I noticed a girl in her teens riding
a small pony around, the pony was around 11hh, the girl was far to big to be riding it. 
I noticed that she rode round the fair fieldin a continuos circle for the majority of the time we were there. 
A young boy, about 10, tried to sell me a sheltland pony for £450 pounds.
I couldn't believe that children were buying animals there just to play with.
We were pleased to see Trading Standards officials walking around with clip boards
but as soon as some sellers saw them coming near they packed up and left!

Comment from EMW Herefordshire
Not much to add really. We brought home a sickly whippetX grey puppy. The puppy has a good home waiting.
We also brought home some of the same batch of featherless hens as EMW Wales.
We noted at least two incidents of loan children buying animals, children well under the legal requirement of 16 years.
We also were approached by young children selling animals, again with no adult supervision. The puppy we bought
was simply handed over to us, no advisory words, nothing! we had to ask if flea and worm treatment had been given and
when! Our vet has, of course checked the puppy over and apart from some slight tummy trouble he is fine now.
This is reportedly the last fair at this venue for the year. We would like to thank both the
Police and Trading Standards Officers for their presence.

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