'My beautiful horse was frightened to death by a barrage of fireworks'

A much-loved horse was put to sleep following a firework display which his distraught owner believes caused his death. She has now called on the authorities to tighten firework laws to prevent a similar tragedies occurring.

George, aged 24, was enjoying a genteel retirement after a successful showing and riding career. Despite precautions taken over the bonfire period, owner Annamaria Shepherd was caught out by an unannounced fireworks display near her holding in Waunfawr, Gwynedd.

After finding him unwell in his paddock, Annamaria called a vet and she said he diagnosed stress-induced colic. Despite efforts to save him, George was put down as his heartbroken owner said a tearful goodbye.

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“I held his head,” said Annamaria. “I talked to him before he went, saying how much I loved him and how I would never forget him. I don’t have children, so he was my family and now he’s gone. People need to realise the consequences of their actions – I lost my beautiful boy just because someone wanted 20 minutes of sparkle and bangs. It’s not right. The government needs to take action because this is happening all too often.”

Aware of the potential danger to George and her other horses, Annamaria stabled them overnight during the bonfire period, from Sunday to Thursday, November 3-8. “I left them out on the Friday night because I thought the fireworks would be over by then,” she said.

“I was planning to keep them inside again over the weekend, in case the displays started up again. If I’d known there was going to be fireworks 200 yards away on the Friday, I would have kept them inside that night as well. When they began, I rushed to the field but it was too late to bring them in. They were running around and it would have been dangerous to go in - they were too excited.

“First thing on Saturday morning, I checked up on them and found George covered in mud and struggling to stand. I called the vet and he sedated George and gave him painkillers. At that time, he thought George would be OK. But he was clearly exhausted and during the day, he went downhill. I called the vet again. George was just too weak to cope and, at 5pm, the decision was taken to put him to sleep to prevent more suffering.” Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now

A social media post highlighting George’s death prompted sympathy and anger. Written by friend Deborah Burns, it showed “what can happen when an old horse, worn out with stress from a barrage of loud fireworks, goes down with exhaustion and stress-induced colic”. Horse owners across the region recalled their own horror stories while pet owners highlighted the stress suffered by their animals during firework displays.

On November 4, a Rhyl horse owner took to social media to described how fireworks that night “freaked out” her horses on the roads of Kinmel Bay. “We had to wait on the side of the road for five minutes to calm them down,” she said.

Last week a Gwynedd woman had a near miss when realising a display was about to start. Shouting across the field, she asked them to hold off 10 minutes so should could get her horses inside before they were spooked.

Fireworks have got bigger and louder but a Holyhead woman said they had long posed problems to horses and livestock. She said online: “When I kept my horses next to the Snowdonia pub 30 years ago, they always had a huge display right next to my rented yard. Nearly killed my old horse Ben.”

Annamaria bought George as a yearling from Sharon Williams, a renowned breeder from Bethel. Under his competition name Celtic First edition, he made his national debut in 2005 at the Cherif Championships at Addington Manor, Buckinghamshire, returning there for the next five years. He was also shown under saddle in Part Bred Arab classes and later carried Annamaria to elementary level in dressage.

“He had his own little fan club,” said the former Inland Revenue worker. “A lot of people knew of him and how he was so good natured.”

George was buried yesterday (Monday, November 11) on her brother’s farm nearby. Annamaria’s tribute was poignant but touching: “You were my favourite hello and my hardest goodbye. RIP beautiful xx.” Today, still tearful, she reported the incident to North Wales Police.

She said: “Under the Animal Welfare Act 200, fireworks shouldn’t be set off near livestock or horses in fields. People can be fined up to £20,000 and be jailed up to six months. However, proving that fireworks killed George is difficult. What I do know is that, despite his age, he was a very healthy horse, with no existing conditions and had never suffered colic previously.

“The fireworks display was extremely loud and all my horses were running around in alarm. The others were unharmed as they were younger. Being older, George was slowing down but he was still healthy. He just became exhausted and couldn’t cope.”

Under government guidelines, anyone planning a firework display in rural areas should warn neighbouring farmers and horse owners in advance. Animal keepers should also make their communities aware there are horses and livestock nearby, though often this will be obvious. If fireworks are set off, this should be “in the opposite direction and well away from them”. Safe distances aren’t defined, however.

Injuries or worse often result from panicked horses running into and through fencing. Incidents also peak on New Year’s Eve and equine lawyers say horse owners may have grounds to claim for losses.

On November 5 this year, fireworks campaigner Julie Doorne, from Lincolnshire, handed a petition with one million signatures to Downing Street. This called for an urgent review on firework rules to safeguard people, animals and pets from injury and distress.

She wants the private use of fireworks to be restricted to traditional dates, such as Guy Fawkes’ Night, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali. Ms Doorne is also demanding the maximum permitted decibels for fireworks to be reduced from 120 to 97, for all public firework displays to be licensed, and for packaging on fireworks to include information on noise level to allow for consumer choice.

Annamaria said the community in Waunfawr has since rallied around. “A lot of people walk past the field and have got to know George,” she said. “They’ve been absolutely wonderful. I even had a message of condolence from the US where a horse owner said it was the same there around the Fouth of July celebrations.

“People need to realise that fireworks are extremely loud and will frighten not just horses, they petrify pets too. This time of year, ewes are carrying lambs as well. It’s an issue the government must look into.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

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