On a sunny day in the spring Dorthe Damgaard decided to take a ride into the country side. She has done this before and enjoys the sounds, sights, smells and sensations connected to such a ride in the countryside. She usually brings her camera, since she’s a passionate photographer who enjoys capturing the changing seasons in the nature. On this particular day she feels particularly happy since it is the first warm and sunny day of this spring.
Driving along on the country road she occasionally makes stops to soak up the impressions of spring on the fields with sprouting crops, in the forests with the shooting green trees and the chirruping birds who convey images of spring love and by the bubbly creeks with the jumping fishes travelling upstream to their spawning points. She takes a lot of pictures and is feeling quite pleased and comfortable in the warm sunshine.
Driving further along, her pleasure and content is suddenly overcome by horror and disgust. In a small field of dirt she discovers two mangy and obviously starved horses. The horses are just standing there, since they don’t really have room and are obviously too weakened from starvation to do much else. The field is nothing but dirt and a few sprigs of weed. In a corner of the fields stands a filthy black bucket with dirty brown water and in another stands something that might once have been considered a shack, but now is nothing more than some decaying boards of lumber held together by a few rusty nails. What once served as a roof has long since collapsed in one side and seems now only to have the function of preventing the walls from caving in.
Dorthe is horrified and takes a walk around the closed field. Following the electrical fence surrounding the field, she comes upon a farm house. The farmer who apparently owns the farm house sees her approaching and goes to meet her by the fence.
The farmer is a sturdy looking man with a pout and a suspecting look on his face.
“Whatcha doin’ here” he asks Dorthe with a scowl as she approaches.
Dorthe tells the farmer that she was just taking a ride through the countryside and came to notice the two horses in the field. She then proceeded to ask if he knows who provides for the horses.
“You wanna buy one?” asks the farmer.
Dorthe explains that she has no intentions of buying any of the horses but that she finds them to be in terrible condition and that they obviously need food and care. She reminds the farmer of his responsibilities as keeper of the horses and asks that they at least receive some fresh water.
“Those horses are mine! I do with them what I want, when I want it! They’re doing fine, so why don’t you just prance off to the big city again, deary... and let us farmers handle things that’s not really any of your concern?” the farmer replies. He then turns and leaves since Dorthe obviously is not interested in buying any of his horses.
Dorthe tries to reason with the farmer, but gets nothing but scowls and not so kind words in return. Eventually she realizes that the farmer has no intentions of taking care of the horses. She goes back to her car, contemplating what to do. There’s no way for her to help the horses to food or fresh water and the farmer obviously has no intentions of doing that either. She thinks long and hard and finally reaches as decision. She decides to call the Animal Police and report the conditions of the starving horses.
The Animal Police go to check on Dorthe’s report and finds the conditions as described. Appalled they contact the farmer and inform him about his responsibilities as owner of the horses. They tell him to at least make sure they have food, fresh water and a decent shelter and they suggest that he calls a vet to check the horses for diseases resulting from the undernourishment. The farmer accepts the terms and promises to take care of the horses immediately. The Animal Police leave the farm in high hopes and expectations.
Some days later the Animal Police conduct a follow-up visit to the farm. They arrive only to discover that the horses are still starving, they still have no fresh water and the shelter is still nothing but a bundle of firewood. The officers immediately call a local veterinarian and ask him to come get the horses. They then proceed to arrest the farmer for violations of the Animal Protections Act.
The farmer is convicted of violations of the Animal Protections Act and is fined accordingly. Furthermore a thorough investigation of the state of the farmers other animals is initiated. The two starving horses are taken to a respectable horse farm where they are fed and taken care of until new caring owners can be found.
On one of her countryside drives, Dorthe comes by to visit the two horses and their new home. They are obviously in improved conditions and fitter than when she last saw them. Dorthe is happy for the horses and pleased that she had the courage to call the Animal Police.
A happy ending like in any other fairy tale...
... or so it would have been. But in the real world there –is- no Animal Police. There are no special authority to report animal cruelty to except the regular police and the state veterinarians. The police are apparently too busy or not prioritizing animal cruelty very high on the list of crimes they have to investigate. Some state veterinarians see it as a personal assault when someone reports mistreat of animals that they should have discovered by themselves and hence reluctantly investigate. What Denmark needs is an Animal Police with specially trained officers to handle these incidents... and Denmark needs it now...