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Reporting a Welfare Concern2023-10-11T12:39:54+01:00

REPORTING A WELFARE CONCERN

Contact the HPA

To report a welfare concern, please contact the HPA by phone or email.

  • Telephone: 01367 242828*
  • Email: equine@hpa-polo.co.uk

The office is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

*Calls may be recorded for monitoring purposes

When reporting a potential welfare concern, please include as many of the following details as possible to help us assess the situation; the more information you can give us, the better.

  • Details of why you are concerned
  • Horse(s) details – number, colour, gender, and age
  • Name of owner and/or landowner
  • Location – if you are unsure of the address and postcode, please try to give additional location information such as nearby main roads and landmarks, or use What3Words to give a precise location
  • Photos and videos are helpful, if you can take these safely and without trespassing
  • Your contact details – your details will be kept confidential

If you are calling out of hours or are not able to speak to a member of the team, please leave a message with your name and contact number. We aim to respond to all messages by the end of each working day.

How we respond to welfare concerns

Welfare concerns can involve lots of work from different organisations, all of which have varying abilities and procedures when dealing with welfare concerns.

The HPA will endeavour to respond to a concern as soon as possible, and this will normally be within one to six days – urgent cases will, of course, be prioritised.

It may not be immediately obvious that someone has been to the horse’s location; there are a number of steps that have to be taken when responding to a concern, and in many cases it is unrealistic to expect improvements overnight. We may not be able to provide updates to the person(s) reporting the concern, as this may negatively affect the outcome.

Sometimes horses will need to be monitored to ensure that any advised improvements are undertaken within a specific timeframe. In some cases, it can take time to identify the horse’s owner.

In certain cases, we may call upon the assistance of other organisations or charities. The HPA does not have the resources or facilities to take horses into our care. In common with most animal welfare charities, the HPA does not bring animal welfare prosecutions; our aim is to educate, support, and work with owners to improve and resolve the situation, hopefully before the situation becomes more serious.

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