A man accused of animal neglect has claimed he rescued a starving horse found at his property from a group of travellers who were threatening to shoot her.
Self-proclaimed animal lover Gordon Whyte went on trial yesterday accused of neglecting three horses in April last year.
The 65-year-old denied causing dark mare Nelly unnecessary pain and suffering – and claimed he was trying to prolong her life by taking her into his care.
The court heard the horse was rescued by Scottish SPCA officers, who discovered she was “in a great deal of pain” due to “severe dental problems” which were preventing her from eating.
Little more than a month later, she had to be put down.
The court also heard Nelly was dropping hay when she was eating and had become so emaciated her bones were protruding from her body.
Whyte is accused of failing to take the horse to the vet to be treated for lice, rain scald and acute and chronic inflammation.
He is also alleged to have allowed her “serious and severe dental disease” – which required surgery – to go untreated.
The pensioner is further accused of neglecting two other fillies, Star and Flame, at the same property – derelict buildings at Meikle, Pitinnan, Oldmeldrum – by keeping them in an unsafe environment where they were exposed to sharp edges, bad weather and electrical wires.
It is also alleged the animals were covered in faeces and left without clean and dry bedding.
Whyte’s lawyer, solicitor-advocate George Mathers, told Aberdeen Sheriff Court his client had never intended Nelly to suffer.
He said Whyte received the horse in that condition and had taken her off the hands of a group of travellers who were threatening to kill her.
Mr Mathers said: “The travelling people were going to shoot the horse if he did not take it.
“We heard that he has cared for horses practically all of his life. He is an animal lover. If he thought a dog was suffering he would buy that dog just to stop it from suffering.
“It’s quite ironic that he is prosecuted for trying to give it a lease of life.
“He provided shelter, food and water and he was trying his best to get this horse back into some sort of health, and it was his understanding that it would take some months to get her back into a good condition again and it would have to be done slowly.
“And that’s what he was doing gradually, trying to get her back into health.”
The court heard Whyte claimed that in the two weeks the mare was in his care, she had started to gain weight.
He also claimed the reason he did not take the animal to the vet was because he thought his experience with horses would allow him to nurse her back to health himself.
Sheriff Kenneth Stewart said that as it was a complicated case with a significant amount of evidence to deal with he would defer giving his verdict until next week.
Whyte of , 31 Kingfisher Way, Inverurie, denies all the charges against him.