An RSPCA officer told Bicester Magistrates Court how she found the rotting bodies of 20 animals strewn around an Amersham farm. One horse was so "painfully weak" it could not stand, while another had blood dripping down its leg from a serious infection.

The horses died when a trailer carrying 44 animals overturned on a motorway in Calgary, Alberta last Friday, 24 October. The vehicle was heading to Fort Macleod, where some of the horses would go to slaughter and others to new owners.

Rural affairs officer for Tandridge police, PC Nick Shrapel said: "This is a wanton act of animal cruelty."It is particularly concerning as this incident comes only a few months after cigarette burns were inflicted on another horse in the area.

A third abandoned foal in a matter of months in the same part of Surrey has led the RSPCA to warn there may be more.

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is cracking down on movie producers using animals in their films. The AWBI has banned the use of monkeys, tigers, panthers and lions in movies and issued 26 guidelines to producers.

As world leaders meet in Rome to discuss the current global food crisis, calls are growing for immediate and practical actions to address the plight of millions of poor facing hunger and starvation across the world.

It is thought that the offenders entered the field and held the 10-year-old mare by the neck before stubbing out cigarettes on her face. PC Nick Shrapel told H&H: "Lulu is such a friendly horse and always goes up to humans. The family are devastated

UK scientists have uncovered a vital clue to stopping cancers spreading around the body. A protein called Tes is able to block a second protein, Mena, from helping cancer cells "crawl" away from the initial tumour.

Scotland's first case of bluetongue virus has been found in a herd of cattle imported from Germany. One of 35 cattle imported from a farm in Bremen tested positive for the virus following routine post-import testing undertaken by the Animal Health Agenc

Thieves broke into the Three Oaks Animal Kabin at the courtyard centre for the second this month and stole yellow canaries, grey and silver doves, and finches. Police have appealed for any witnesses to contact them.