Fears more horses may be left tethered alone on public land in Leeds

A report by the city council said it received around 60 calls a year to deal with horses being tethered on grass verges and roadsides.

The RSPCA said that the illegal practice, known as fly-grazing, may get worse as maintenance costs for horse owners increase.

The council doesn’t have a facility to accommodate horses itself and so pays a specialist to care for the animals until they are reclaimed. This costs around £20,000 a year.

The council’s report said: “Concerns surround the welfare of the horses and the risk of damage or nuisance to property and people.

“As well as fouling and causing damage to the land, horses can attack people and cause serious road accidents.

“They also cause problems for residents by depriving them of the safe use and enjoyment of land provided for the public.”

The authority said the majority of horses are reclaimed by their owners for a fee to cover the costs.

If no owner comes forward, the council tries to have the horse rehomed.

However, on the “rare” occasions a horse can’t be rehomed, often because of serious illness or injury, they can be put down if it is deemed the “most humane option”.

The RSPCA said that the Control of Horses Act, passed by the government in 2015, had reduced the number of horses being tethered by the roadside.

But the charity said it feared the cost-of-living crisis may see the practice rise again.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: “We are still seeing horses up and down the country being illegally fly-grazed – where owners graze their animals on land without permission, usually moving them from place to place.

“We suspect one of the reasons for fly-grazing is because horses are expensive to keep and grazing management takes a great deal of planning, especially with large groups of horses.

“But also we suspect the extreme weather we’ve seen this summer may prompt fly grazing to continue especially into the winter, as the price of hay increases and grazing is in short supply.

“Any horse that is sick or injured should be reported to the RSPCA or a vet straight away.”