Repair work begins on Scottish SPCA’S Aberdeenshire Centre’s horse shelters

The Society has raised £21,050 to go towards repairing its horse shelters. (Pic: Scottish SPCA)

An appeal was launched with the hopes of raising £40,000 to replace the shelters which were destroyed in the storm as well as adding new facilities to better protect the equines at the centre from the harsh weather they are often subjected to.

A year on, the Society has raised £21,050 (52% of the £40k target) and begun to carry out some of the repair work including new, taller fencing, a large shelter to protect horses from bad weather and repurposing some of the old fencing that was still useable.

The Aberdeenshire centre still need to meet their target to allow them to finish the fencing, build more shelters and create a quarantine area for new arrivals to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

The centre's shelters were destroyed by Storm Arwen. (Scottish SPCA)

Centre manager, Louise Griese, said: “We were devastated to come in to work on the Saturday morning after Storm Arwen and discover that the horse shelters had been totally levelled.

“Thankfully, there were no horses in the shelters at the time and no people or animals were hurt, which is the most important thing.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to members of the public, The Co-operative Group and the Elise Pilkington Trust who have all donated to our appeal so far.

“We are now looking towards the next phase of repairs which will include finishing the fencing, building more horse shelters and creating a quarantine area for new arrivals to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Eigg was cared for at the Aberdeenshire Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre.(Scottish SPCA)

“These facilities will help horses as they recover, like Eigg who came to the centre as part of a large group of horses who were seized on welfare grounds.

“Eigg was an older lady aged 26 when she arrived and, due to being part of an active court case, she and the rest of her herd were long-term residents.

“Unfortunately, Eigg had lice through her coat, a large worm burden, her feet needed trimmed and her teeth were overgrown and needing dental work.

“Our staff at the centre fully clipped her body and it took several special medicated baths to kill the lice.

“The veterinary team took blood samples from her due to her age and condition and it came back positive for equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). This requires a strict diet, especially in the summer months when the grass is rich.

“Eigg was with us for a year and a half before we could finally start searching for her forever home, but this proved difficult due to her age as well as needing special dental care and a strict diet regime.

“After an unsuccessful search for six months, a special appeal was put out to help find Eigg the perfect the home. Her new owner Elaine saw this appeal and was the perfect match. After a total of 722 days Eigg was finally rehomed.

“We hope that by improving our equine facilities we can continue to be there for horses like Eigg when they need us most.

“We’d be so grateful for anything anyone can spare towards the appeal and we know that the horses in our care will be too.”

Donations to the appeal can be at www.scottishspca.org/horseshelterappeal