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email this page to a friendONE of Europe's largest horse fairs is fast approaching and as residents of Appleby prepare for a huge influx of visitors police are warning them to be on guard against a possible spate of crime.
Officers from Cumbria Police are hoping to keep law-breaking to a minimum and are planning to mount extra patrols throughout the week long Appleby Horse Fair which gets underway tomorrow (Thursday 8th June).
There is huge potential for the welfare of horses at the Appleby Horse Fair to be seriously compromised...
Brian Jeffries - RSPCA Inspector
Inspector Lee Skelton, based at Appleby police station, said: "When an event such as this brings a large influx of visitors to the county, there is the potential for those crowds to attract criminals who will target both them and their belongings.
"We are asking people to be on their guard and take sensible crime prevention measures. They should also report anyone they think is acting suspiciously."
Residents and visitors are being urged to take some simple precautions to protect their property, including never leaving vehicles unlocked, never leaving valuables in sight unattended and not parking in isolated areas.
Concerns are also being raised over possible animal welfare abuses as up to 1 500 horses are expected to change hands at the event.
Inspectors from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) will be equipped with video surveillance equipment to gather evidence of abuses as they join police and Eden District Council staff in patrolling the showground.
RSPCA Chief Inspector Brian Jeffries said: "There is huge potential for the welfare of horses at the Appleby Horse Fair to be seriously compromised, which is why the RSPCA attends the event every year.
"We have an extremely hard-working team of dedicated officers that put in long hours to help prevent suffering to hundreds of horses bought and sold at the fair. We keep a close eye on the animals and owners, and our uniformed presence means any instances of cruelty can be easily reported."
Thousands of Romany travellers are currently making their way through the region as they head to the annual event and police are closely monitoring the routes. The move follows the death of two people when their horse-drawn caravan was hit by a lorry on the busy A66 road in 2003.
Your views:
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We are all blinded by tradition..for what u may ask..for example Appleby horsefair. Becasue of my age people may think that I don't really know what I'm on about, well let me correct you there, I was born and raised in the forest of dean - Gloucestershire. I am not blind to what goes on around me, I'm not naieve. So now that we've got that sorted lets get down to it.
Appleby horse fair - police, vets and the RSPCA attend it, they are there to 'check up' on what's going on and yet lame and ill-treated horses are paraded around the streets, made to trott uncontrollably untill some pass out with over heating. Yes you may say 'but theres a river'- rivers don't help ripped tendons, slipped disks, and sores. It's about time people moved up to the 21st century! The times of suffering and neglect of horses and other animals are now over so why do we agree to have 'horsefairs,'
We managed to get 'foxhunting' banned, this is just a step up to help to make this undeserved suffereing become extinct so why are people sitting back and doing nothing all becasue people think it's 'tradtion' - it's about time we had our say and not fall into other peoples plans!
Sarah, age 16 - Gloucestershire
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Well, first of all we have fox hunting banned, next people are moaning about horse racing, now horse fairs? Sometimes it can be better for the horse to exchange hands in this way rather than being drugged up to their eyeballs with no RSPCA to watch private sales being made, can it not? Admittedly there are pro's and con's to these arguments but it has been going on for hundreds of years and no-one has ever thought about it when they were probably our most experienced horse sellers?
Anonymous
