BRIGG TOWN MAYOR WELCOMES HORSE WATCH SCHEME

The first citizen of  Brigg today welcomed a new Horse Watch scheme designed to tackle equine crime across North Lincolnshire.
Councillor Carl Sherwood, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Sport and Leisure at North Lincolnshire Council and the current Brigg Town Mayor, pledged: “We will not tolerate horse crime in any form and that is why we want to set up the North Lincolnshire Horse Watch scheme.
“This new initiative will help track down criminals and bring them to justice for their cruel and vindictive crimes.
“A dedicated Facebook page will enable the key organisations and individuals to work together and share vital information.  It will become the recognised official site that people can use.”
The scheme will be launched tomorrow (October 2) at Canswick House Farm Livery Stables in Gunness.
Horse Watch will see relevant agencies like the council, police, horse owners and associations, sharing information to help catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Among incidents are:

• An assault on a horse that involved its tail and main being chopped off (June 2012). 
• An attack in a neighbouring area on a mare that resulted in death to the horse and unborn foal (June 2012).
• Thefts of thousands of pounds of equipment from equine premises on the Isle of Axholme (May 2012)

The plan is to develop a Facebook page where people can share information to help catch the criminals.
It will link to other Horse Watch pages from across the country and provide links to neighbouring police areas.
This new initiative will not only tackle horse cruelty, but theft involving horse equipment that is expensive to replace and is a real target for thieves.
Using intelligence from Humberside Police and Crime Stoppers, alerts and relevant crime reduction information will be sent out.
If you want to report a horse crime, contact the Police on 101 (non urgent), 999 (emergency), or if you have information that would help lead to arrest, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Amanda Barnett, Equine Liaison and Wildlife Crime Officer - South Bank Division, said: “Theft of horses is relatively low in our policing area.  However, the Horse Watch scheme highlights the potential for owners to lose their animals to thieves.  It’s not just the horses that thieves target but also equine equipment including tack and trailers.  By joining the Horse Watch scheme, it will enable owners to share information and hopefully reduce this type of crime that will also lead to the detection of offenders.”
Stuart Minto, Head of Safer Neighbourhoods at North Lincolnshire Council, said: “I welcome this initiative to help tackle horse crime.  It will bring together the agencies involved with horses – including vets, livery yards, the police, council, and horse owners.  It will make it much easier to detect and report horse crime – whether it’s cruelty to horses or theft.  And the beauty of it is that people can share vital information that will hopefully lead to arrest.”

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