A severe case of animal neglect has been detected at the Polish brood farm owned by renowned Danish stallion owner John Byrialsen of Viegaard stud. Volunteers evacuated fifty of the sickest horses from the farm, which is located in Posadowo, Poland.
On the weekend Eurodressage received a shocking video with footage from the farm from an anonymous sender. It depicted the starving horses at the farm (photo album here). As soon as the news went publish volunteers, the Polish police and animal welfare society came into action
The neglect at this farm is nothing new. In 2011 Polish website Gazeta.pl printed that police and local animal protection authorities were called to the farm because horses there were neglected.
A groom working at the Posadowo farm was interviewed by the Danish Epona.tv. Also check out a video of some of the horses being evacuated by volunteers.
Owner John Byrialsen stands renowned Danish stallions Come Back II and Lobster up for stud. He is also co-owner of Tina Konyot's U.S. Dressage Team horse Calecto V (the V standing for Viegaard and not the Roman number 5).
The news of the neglect has already caught on in Denmark and huge mainstream media publications, such as as Ekstrabladet and Berlingske Tidende, have covered this topic. According to Ridehesten.com, the two papers have asked the Danish Warmblood associations's chairman Jan Pedersen for a statement.
"It is appalling, shocking and I cannot underline distinctly enough how far out this is. It is so horrible that you feel physically ill watching it. I have never ever seen anything like it," said Jan Pedersen to BT.dk. His statement is a good description of the emotional turbulence you experience watching the horror clips that was first published in a polish magazine and then went viral during the weekend within the horse community.