Police rescue 22 horses and four dogs, emaciated and injured

The owners, aged 44 and 75, have been arrested.

All the horses were literally starving and dangerously thin, with open, infected and still-bleeding wounds and ulcers, many suffering lice and worms, with overgrown hooves.

One of the ponies had such a serious leg injury that he could not walk on it without sweating and screaming in pain, and had to be put to sleep when vets realised nothing could be done to prevent his suffering.

Two mares are said to be critically ill and have lost a lot of blood through their untreated wounds.

None of the horses had ever been vaccinated or wormed, so vets are keeping a close eye on the remaining 21 in case they develop tetanus or their digestive systems have been damaged by parasites.

The dogs had been kept tightly penned in, tied on short leads so they could not turn or lie down, enclosed by piles of rubble and standing in their own urine and excrement.

They had been without food and water for so long that they were skeletal.

One of them, a female hunting hound, had no front teeth and was barely able to walk, and none of them had been chipped or vaccinated.

Electronic chips are required to be fitted within three months of birth.

The horses' field and the dogs' pen were littered with barbed wire and chunks of rusted metal.

National Police had been alerted about the state of the animals at the El Trapiche farm by a local shelter.

The dogs belonged to the elder of the two arrested persons, and the horses to the other.

So far, the dogs and at least 19 of the horses look likely to recover.

They have been distributed among a number of shelters in the area, since the usual rule where animals are taken to their nearest would have meant the rescue centre serving Vélez-Málaga being overwhelmed.

Photograph by the National Police