Britain's Prince Harry Accused of Animal Cruelty

BRADFORD, United Kingdom (Sept. 5) – Animal welfare groups are accusing Britain's Prince Harry of animal cruelty after he continued to play in a polo game after his horse was allegedly wounded by spikes on the royal's riding spurs.

Photos from a July polo match in England show the 25-year-old prince atop a horse bleeding on its side. The game's rules state that any player who uses his spurs excessively can face penalties that range from a warning to a more than $75,000 fine. Competitors are also supposed to take themselves out of the game immediately if they notice that their horse is injured.

The photos were first published in The Daily Mail newspaper, and have prompted polo's governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, to launch an investigation. Details were reported by several media outlets.

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Authorities launched an investigation after seeing this and other photos of Prince Harry playing polo on an injured horse in July.

The director of Britain's Animal Aid charity told the paper he believes it was a "heartless and utterly selfish thing to do," for the prince to continue playing in a polo match after his horse was injured. "Polo is a very rough activity that causes stress and injuries to horses," Andrew Tyler said. "Spurs are unnecessary for a competent rider and should not be used to punish a horse for the rider's failure to gain an advantage."

Harry's team, the Household Cavalry, lost by half a point that day to the Royal Navy polo team at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park.

Another animal welfare expert, Tony Moore, called the prince's actions "cruel."

"If a rider uses their spurs in a way that injures a horse then that is cruel," Moore, chairman of the Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe, told the Mail.

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The royal family has issued a statement insisting that Harry stopped playing once he realized that his horse was bleeding. And the chairman of pony welfare for the Hurlingham group, David Morley, said the association is taking its inquiry seriously. "We are very hot on the welfare of ponies," he told The Daily Record newspaper in Scotland.

But Morley said after talking with a veterinarian who examined Harry's horse, it's unlikely that the prince will face major disciplinary action. Evidence shows that the horse was likely wounded by a collision with another rider, rather than from the prince's spurs.

"It was only on one side of the pony. If it had been caused by excessive use of the spurs, you would have expected to find it on both sides," Morley said.

This isn't the polo enthusiast prince's first brush with animal rights groups. Earlier this year, Harry's horse collapsed and died of a heart attack shortly after the prince had dismounted him after a polo game. The horse's death prompted animal advocates to criticize the sport then as too cruel and grueling for the ponies.