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Shaking Steven
River rescue foal arrives at Redwings
A tiny foal rescued from a river in East London has arrived at Redwings HQ in Norfolk.
The foal was found by a member of the public in a stretch of the River Lea in Essex. They alerted the RSPCA who attended immediately along with three appliances and 14 firefighters and officers from the London Fire Brigade who carried out a delicate operation to rescue him from the river.
Little Stephen when he was first rescued
(with thanks to the London Fire Brigade) >>
They named him Steve, but he was shivering so much that he has since become known as ‘Shaking Stephen’. The fire officers wrapped him in blankets to warm him up and he was then taken to the Galley Hill Equine Surgery in Waltham Abbey where the vets treated him for hypothermia and gave him the vital colostrum (early stage milk) that he may not have received from his mother.
Resident Vet Andrea Smith, said: “The river ran by a waterworks. We have no idea how he ended up there, but there was no sign of a broodmare, so we suspect that, sadly, he may have been put there.He is doing very well, considering. He’s a really sweet, healthy foal and we hope he’ll be able to go on and have a lovely happy life. He certainly deserves it, he’s an absolute delight.”
The surgery tried him with a surrogate mare, but when Stephen showed no real interest, they approached Redwings Horse Sanctuary to offer Stephen a home and continue with his hand rearing. He has this week arrived at the charity’s specialist horse hospital in Norfolk.
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An RSPCA spokesperson said:”It is appalling and heartbreaking that a young foal like this could be dumped with no thought to his care or wellbeing. This is indicative of the sort of serious neglect of horses that we are increasingly seeing. We are grateful to Redwings for taking him on and caring for him.”
Senior Welfare Coordinator for Redwings, Rachel Angell, said: “More and more often we are seeing young colts like Stephen being deliberately abandoned as their value is so low and yet so many continue to be bred who are just not wanted. In Stephen’s case it is looking increasingly likely that this was deliberate as no owner has come forward. It is heart-breaking that anyone could do something so cruel. His rescue really was a case of teamwork and we’d like to thank everyone involved for bringing him this far. We will give him the best start in life we possibly can, and hopefully get him recover from his ordeal as soon as possible.”