Tragedy as beloved horse dies after firework display as owner calls for government 'action'

A horse died after he was spooked by fireworks, his devastated owner has said. George, a 24-year-old horse, was found in distress in his field by Annamaria Shepherd.

He was later diagnosed with stress-induced colic which refers to stomach issues and is incredibly dangerous to horses. Tragically, nothing could be done to save George and he was put to sleep.

Annamarie held George as he died in his paddock in Waunfawr, a rural village near Eryri National Park (Snowdonia). She is now calling on tighter rules on fireworks.

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"I held his head," she said. "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."

Annamaria had kept George and her other horses inside their stables overnight from Sunday, November 3 to Thursday, November 8. She let them out on Friday night after deducing that firework displays celebrating Bonfire Night would have ended, The Mirror reports.

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."