Six horses, a dog and a cat were killed when arsonists burnt down a stud farm, leaving a devastated owner heartbroken.
The owner of Quimble Stud Farm, based near Lewes in East Sussex, said’my heart is in a million pieces,’ following the blaze at around 6am on Saturday.
Barbara Joyce, 69, says she is baffled over why someone would hurt her beloved animals, saying: ‘I feel as though someone lined up my children and set them on fire and I watched.’
Fire tore through Quimble Stud Farm, near Lewes, on Saturday morning, leaving six horses, a dog and a cat all dead
Owner Barbara Joyce said it felt as though someone had set her children on fire after the devastating blaze at the weekend. Pluto the horse and Tatiana the cat both died in the blaze
She added: ‘What could I have ever done to anyone? I have never hurt anyone.
‘Why would anyone burn my horses to death? My old dog and my cat died in the fire as well.
‘The barn was just a shell and there were smouldering bodies around.
‘They were my babies. They would see me coming through in the middle of the barn and come to see if I had got them a snack.
Ms Joyce said her barn was a ‘shell’ and she arrived to see ‘smouldering bodies’ around. Pug cross Dolly, 14, died in the blaze
‘We’re just in pieces. Why would anyone do that? I don’t know how someone could consciously set alight a barn full of horses. We are just reeling from it. My heart is in a million pieces.’
Two men have been arrested following Saturday’s fire.
Ms Joyce explained how she has over 20 horses, many of them rescued. But the ones she kept in the barn were either competition winners – worth thousands of pounds – or traumatised animals that needed extra care.
All the horses in the barn died as the structure was also destroyed by the fire.
She added: ‘These weren’t just any ordinary horses, these were our special horses.
‘The ones that were in there were the ones that either needed special attention or were for the show season.
‘One was a young eight-months-old colt. What a beautiful boy, he used to lie in the stable with my granddaughter. He was going to be our future stud stallion. He was an Irish draught called Pluto.’
She said the other horses, were called Khwami, Rascal, Crystal, Pete, and Warwick – who bagged three prizes at shows last year and was worth around £15,000.
A 14-year-old pug cross, Dolly, and a tabby cat, called Tatiana, also died in the fire.
Competition-winning horses and others that were left traumatised by previous owners were being kept at the barn before the fire on saturday
Eight-month-old colt and ‘future stud stallion,’ Pluto was killed in the fire. Ms Joyce said he used to lie in the stable with her granddaughter
Pete the horse was one of six to die, with the others named Pluto, Khwami, Rascal, Crystal and Warwick
Police are treating the fire as suspicious and have arrested two men, aged 40 and 24, on suspicion of arson.
The suspects have both been released on conditional bail until February 13 while enquiries continue.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: ‘Two men have been arrested after a fire at a barn in Lewes.
A barn where the six horses were kept was totally destroyed by Saturday’s fire, with the owner saying her ‘heart is in a million pieces’
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson following Saturday’s fire. They have been bailed until February 13 pending further enquiries
‘Police were called shortly before 6am on Saturday to reports of a fire at a barn in the Rodmell area of Lewes.
‘No persons were injured, but six horses tragically died in the fire.
‘The fire is being treated as suspicious and two men, aged 40 and 24, have been arrested on suspicion of arson.
‘They have both been released on conditional bail until February 13 while enquiries continue.’