Leeds sisters 'absolutely devastated' after stables housing rescue animals stolen overnight from Pudsey field
A stable block that was used to shelter rescued animals has been stolen in an audacious theft from a field in Leeds.
Two sisters who tend to the horses, sheep and goats on the field in Pudsey said they were “absolutely devastated” after arriving at 5am last Thursday (October 9) to find that the stable block that they had paid £4,000 to install last year had been stolen.
Michaela Midgley, who looks after the eight animals on the field with her sister Katrina Heseltine, said: “At first, I thought I was losing my mind.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The whole structure—gone.”
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Katrina said that the gates had been broken into to get onto the site before the stable was dismantled and taken away in a “large enough vehicle”.
The culprits also caused an immense amount of damage to the site, with Katrina saying: “They’ve made a right bloody mess.”
The two sisters had saved to buy the shelter after growing the number of rescue animals they had taken into their care over the years.
Katrina said: “We had been having bad weather so it was very important to get the mobile stables.
“We have put our hearts and souls into our little place with many hours spent building and fixing it. We are now heading into winter and are complete stuck with what to do now.”
Since the stables were stolen a community fundraising page has been set up that has received over £2,000 in donations and a video posted by Katrina has been seen by over 100,000 people.
She said: “The support we have had from the general public in messages and phone calls and with the GoFundMe page is incredible. We’ve been gobsmacked with the amount of people wanting to help.”
A police spokesperson said: “West Yorkshire Police received a report of a wooden stable block being stolen from a field on Priesthorpe Lane, Farsley on the evening of Thursday 9 October.
“It was reported that the suspect(s) gained entry to the field, causing damage to a fence, before removing a large wooden structure from the field.
“A crime of theft has been recorded. Anyone with any information or CCTV footage which could assist with the investigation is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police online at https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/LiveChat or by calling 101 quoting reference 13250582165.
“Alternatively, call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”