KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — A British senior citizen has been slapped with a restraining order for continuously feeding a retired racehorse carrots against his owner’s wishes.
Margaret Porter, of Yorkshire Dales, fed Nelson the chestnut gelding as she thought it looked sad and was underfed, Daily Mail reported.
Despite being told by his owner Suzanne Cooke, 50, that she risked poisoning the horse or giving it colic, Porter continued feeding it.
On Thursday, a magistrate found Porter guilty of harassment and slapped her with a restraining order that bans her from the horse and Cooke’s home.
She was also fined £180 (RM1,015), with court costs of £310 (RM1,748) and a £34 (RM191) court surcharge.
Porter had earlier told the court that she first saw Nelson standing outside his stables and thought he looked quite sad.
“I didn’t examine the horse but I noticed him. The fields were frozen at the time and there was snow on the ground. I passed six or seven times a day and didn’t see his owner with him once,” she reportedly said.
Porter said she began speaking to people about her concerns for Nelson in the hope someone would take it on board and try to get Cooke to look after the horse properly.
“I was getting quite distressed about the situation.
“I decided to give him a few carrots at the fence, it never occurred to me that anyone else would be bothered about that, I just didn’t want him starving to death.”
The feeding continued until Cooke noticed there were dozens of carrot tops in his field.
She then picked them up and confronted Porter, pointing out that there was a sign on the fence asking people not to feed him.
“On Feb 13 this year, I was going to my horse when I saw Mrs Porter’s car parked up. She was throwing food into the field and the horse came over.
“I opened the car window and said ‘why are you feeding my horse? Do you realise what you are doing? You could poison my horse or give it colic and make it ill,” she said, adding that Porter then challenged her to call the police.
Cooke said she had no option but to call the police and Porter was eventually arrested and charged with harassment in April.
Magistrate Hilary Fairwood said Porter’s initial conduct was laudable as she truly believed she was trying to prevent the neglect of the horse.
“However after the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) visit and police intervention she continued despite being explicitly told the RSPCA had no concerns whatsoever.
“Her conduct was not reasonable and we find her guilty of the charge.”
Fairwood also said it was necessary to impose a restraining order for Nelson’s well being.
