Malvern Abuse

[susanp]

The AHS has posted a statement(finally!)on their website

[marafia]

here it is in full ,scroll down for latest update.

Special Announcement - Result of Investigation

The committee appointed by the AHS Council to investigate an incident of cruelty alleged to have occurred at the National Show at Malvern at the end of July has reported.

Some days after the show an announcement was made on the AHS website as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Announcement - Published August 6th 2009
It has been brought to the attention of the Council of the Arab Horse society that allegations have been made on the Internet of cruelty by a handler to a horse at the recent AHS Show at Malvern.

The Council is concerned about any and all incidents of cruelty, most particularly those committed at events held under the Society’s jurisdiction.
It is also concerned about potentially defamatory statements being made in relation to the alleged incident.
Information is required for an investigation of the alleged incident to be made.
At present, no official complaint about the alleged incident has been received by the society.
Any witness intending to submit a complaint with supporting evidence for the enquiry should send it to:

Peter Upton, Arab Horse Society, Windsor House, Ramsbury, Wiltshire. SN8 2PE

Any such information must be received by Tuesday 11 August 2009.
Anonymous communications will not be taken into consideration.
The Society will publish its findings after the completion of the investigation, and in the meantime would like to request an end to any external speculation on the alleged incident.

Published August 6th 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Announcement Update - Published August 24th 2009

The Society has appointed an Investigation Committee
Terms of reference for the Investigation Committee:

1. To receive letters of complaint and supporting evidence about an alleged incident of cruelty on the Three Counties Showground on 30th July 2009
2. To investigate the alleged incident
3. To report the findings of this investigation to the AHS Council
4. To make recommendations to the AHS Council about any action that it should take as a result of the findings of the investigation and to make recommendations generally.

The Investigation Committee appointees are Janet Court (ECAHO A List DC member), Annette Dixon (AHS Welfare Officer)and Peter Upton(Governor)

Letters and documents have been received for consideration by the Investigation Committee.
The Society will publish its findings after the completion of the investigation, and in the meantime would like to request an end to any external speculation on the alleged incident.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Investigation Committee has submitted its report to Council.
Under item 1 of the terms of reference the report states:

Letters of complaint were received.
Of these a number were discounted on the grounds of being written by people who were not present at the alleged incident or by people who were not present at the show.

The persons accused in the letters were invited to submit their replies with supporting evidence.
Replies were received.

The DC report was obtained.
A statement from the senior DC was obtained.

The complaints were not submitted according to the required procedure of the European Arab Horse Show Commission Rules contained in the Blue Book 2009 so could not be investigated under these Rules.
Neither were the complaints received according to the required procedure of AHS Rules for Showing 2009 which are published in the catalogue.

Rule 38 clearly defines the required procedure and although the DC members were not present just at that time the Show Director (whose mobile number is published on the front cover of the schedule) was present on the showground.
There had been no attempts at the time to contact any show officials.

Because Council is very concerned about any and all incidents of cruelty, special arrangements were made and, on this occasion, an announcement extending the time for receiving complaints was posted on the AHS website.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under items 2 and 3 of the terms of reference the report discusses the committee’s findings.

A number of letters were received, but only one could be safely and reasonably taken as from a first hand witness with a specific allegation.
The other letters that were received were from people that either did not have a clear view or did not give a clear account of the events, or were based on hearsay (written by people not actually present).
It is unclear why none of the complainants sought to make an official objection or notification at the time.
No video or other photographic evidence was submitted to the Investigation Committee in support of the allegations of cruel treatment.

Seven letters were received from people who watched all or part of the training session at which the cruelty is alleged to have occurred but saw no cruelty inflicted.
Photographs were submitted of the colt winning his Futurity class the next day and not appearing to be in any way injured or cowed.

After careful consideration of the evidence before it the Investigation Committee concluded that they were unable to find that cruelty to the horse took place.

The Report of the Investigation Committee has been studied by the AHS Council.
The findings of the report are accepted by Council.

The Investigation Committee has made various recommendations for improving AHS procedures and these will be forwarded to the relevant committees for further consideration and implementation where appropriate.

Other consequences and implications of the findings will be considered. It has been brought to my attention that, in connection with this incident, there have been various insulting and inaccurate postings on the Internet about the Society and its officers.

Such postings can be hurtful and de-motivating to the very people on whose unpaid work we depend for the running of our Society. I would like to ask people to stop publishing malicious statements which can bring harm and disrepute to the Society and its workings.

Finn Guinness
Chairman of Council
The Arab Horse Society