By Esther Lauaki
Horse lovers have been left “devastated” after their beloved pets, which they paid to have buried, were among horses left to rot in a Romsey paddock.
Macedon Ranges council is investigating the property where up to 100 dead horses were recently discovered in varying states of decomposition.
Michelle Downes, a former Miss Australia, said she paid $250 to the landowner who promised to bury her horse Dell under a tree.
She said that she is one of a number of horse owners who paid the landowner for burials of their animals.
“I took Dell there eight years ago to be buried on the recommendation of a local vet,” she told
Star Weekly.
“I recently referred a friend to him a year ago as well and I feel terrible now.
“He’s well known in the community.
“All these years I thought he [Dell] was in a nice spot in a paddock under a tree. It is devastating, it’s awful to think someone would mislead you.”
The RSPCA ruled out any cruelty earlier this month as part of an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding the gruesome discovery. The horses were of mixed breeds and ages.
Ms Downes rescued Dell from a knackery and said that she didn’t want the purebred quarter horse to meet an undignified end.
“He had a leg injury, but it was nowhere near bad enough that he needed to be put down so I brought him home to live his life out happily,” she said.
“When Dell’s injury got so bad that it came time to put him down I wasn’t even considering taking him to a knackery.
“I’m devastated that he was just left outside like that.”
Ms Downes said she would like to see a review of the laws around burial of horses.
