Residents who are “up in arms” over the potential death of at least 20 horses in Wooburn Green have been dealt a blow – after animal charities backed the landowners.

The owner of the horses was given just five days to remove them from Slate Meadow after abandonment notices appeared around the field.

The horses have to be taken out of the field by tomorrow (February 3) or they face being rehomed, sold, or “humanely destroyed” by the landowners. 

Residents have reacted furiously to the notice, which appeared on Monday, calling it “disgraceful.”

However, animal charities have hit back at the horses’ owners, criticising them for letting the animals “fly-graze” - illegally grazing on land without the landowner's permission.

Lucy Cooper, a spokesman for the RSPCA, said fly-grazing has been a “huge problem” across the country.

She said: “As animal lovers we understand concerns for what will happen to these horses if they are not claimed and moved by their owners, but the landowners do have a number of options for the animals as stated on the notice.

“The landowner can rehome, sell or have the horses adopted into a local sanctuary, but are also within their rights to have the horses put to sleep, humanely. We would very much hope this would be a last resort.

“Sadly, we and other equine welfare charities have been picking up the pieces of the ongoing horse crisis for many years, rescuing sick and injured horses who have been left without appropriate care. Quite often, their owners are almost impossible to trace.”

A spokesman for World Horse Welfare said euthanasia could be the “best option” for some horses and “fully supports the landowner’s decision.”

She said: “There are significant challenges in dealing with fly-grazed horses – they often suffer health problems due to indiscriminate breeding and a lack of care prompting large vet bills, they can be semi-feral so need an experienced person to handle and train them, and there are already thousands more horses in England than there are good homes.

“Over recent years, welfare charities and organisations like World Horse Welfare have taken in hundreds of fly-grazed horses but there simply is not the capacity to take in hundreds more.

“Fly-grazing is an act of irresponsible ownership and the practice must have consequences otherwise it will continue to happen. It is imperative that landowners take a strong position and do not tolerate it.”