Alhaurín el Grande shelter need help after giving a home to neglected horses and donkeys

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ARCH rescue centre faces "stretched" finances after taking in animals from a jailed dealer amid challenging weather conditions

Tony Bryant

Thursday, 12 February 2026, 11:43

The Andalusian rescue centre for horses (Arch) has made an urgent appeal for donations to help cope with the "considerable" costs involved in last week’s rescue of three mares, two donkeys and a mule.

The equines were delivered to the Alhaurín el Grande-based shelter by the Gibraltar police, who had been alerted by a charity based in La Línea de la Concepción.

The animals belonged a dealer who had been prohibited from keeping animals on more than one occasion. The rescue centre has taken in a total of 15 animals from the same dealer over the last five years, which had been confiscated by Seprona.

The dealer is now in prison and the investigation is continuing, which, the charity explained, “could result in more animals being discovered”.

President Jill Newman Rogers said: “It was not a good time since conditions at the centre were extremely challenging with the torrential and persistent rains. But these poor animals were in an appalling state of neglect and there was nowhere else for them to go. We felt we could not turn them away in spite of the extra difficulties they present for our team of horse carers and the extra burden on finances, which are already stretched to the limits.”

The president explained that the centre receives no funding from the authorities, so it needs help to provide veterinary care.

“Any donation, however small, would help,” Rogers added.