More than thirty horses, ponies and donkeys found dead at a south Bucks farm had “starved” and been “left to die”, a court heard today.

The carcasses were discovered next to living animals “in a really disgusting state” at Spindles Farm, Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, in January.

RSPCA inspectors called to the farm said it was the “worst case of animal suffering” they had ever seen.

Four members of the same family each deny 12 charges of animal cruelty at Bicester Magistrates Court, in a trial set to last for fifty days.

James Gray, 45, Julie Gray, 41, and Cordelia Gray, 20, all of Spindles Farm, and 26-year-old Jodie Gray, of Park Road, Ashford, Middlesex, deny the allegations.

A teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons faces the same allegations.

Between January 4 and 9 this year, a total of 115 horses, ponies and donkeys were seized, under the Animal Welfare Act by police officers and RSPCA inspectors, from the farm which was being run as a horse-trading business.

Robert Seabrook QC, for the prosecution, told the court the seizures took place “either because the animals were considered to be suffering or likely to be suffering.

“A number were seen to be in such a bad condition they had to be euthanised.”

Spindles Farm was first visited by RSPCA inspectors Kirsty Hamilton and Robert Skinner on Friday January 4.

The scene was, Mr Seabrook told the court, “a somewhat grotesque and distressing state of affairs”.

The two inspectors found horses and other equines “tethered in a really disgusting state in pens, often without food and, in a number of cases, no dry bedding,” said Mr Seabrook.

He told the court: “Most extraordinary and distressing of all, a number of carcasses of dead horses were in the pens, sometimes with living animals.”

Mr Seabrook said the carcasses were “in various states of decomposition”.

In one pen, severed hooves and heads were found next to some carcasses, the court heard.

Mr Seabrook told the court: “A number of animals had plainly been dead for many days, some of them for months.”

Vet Katherine Robinson examined a number of the animals at the farm – the first eight of which were “emaciated”, the court heard.

“She described the nausea she felt and the horror of the scene of what she witnessed, and believed it was the worst case of animal suffering she had ever seen,” said Mr Seabrook.

Miss Robinson also discovered another animal which was incapable of standing, and there appeared to be “very little or no food or water” in the pens.

Mr Seabrook said the dead animals “had died on their feet, almost certainly from starvation and lack of attention”.

He added: “There was no indication the animals had been shot or dealt with humanely. They had been left to die and suffer unnecessarily.”

He said: “The problem was lack of diet – in other words, starvation. The truth was they had been extremely underfed, malnutrition being a significant part of the problem.”

Another vet, Robert Baskerville, visited the farm later the same day. He recommended two animals be put down immediately.

He found another 90 animals in the farm yard – a large number of which, Mr Seabrook said, were “very thin and covered with faeces, and some were severely emaciated”.

Some were suffering from diarrhoea, and traces of salmonella were found in at least one animal, the court heard.

Another horse was destroyed the following day, Saturday, January 5.

On Wednesday, January 9, the remaining animals at the farm were seized and taken to a number of rescue centres.

Mr Seabrook said by May, one of the seized horses' body weight had increased by 72 per cent, “simply by being fed”.

One of the carcasses was later identified as a piebald pony, which Mr Gray and another person who cannot be named for legal reasons had allegedly been seen “dragging” across land owned by the National Trust at Hughenden Manor, near High Wycombe.

Mr Seabrook said the horse had a rope tied around its neck and tail. “Witnesses said it appeared to be dead,” he told the court.

The five defendants all gave no comment interviews when spoken to by police.

They each face twelve charges under the Animal Welfare Act of neglect of animal welfare and causing unnecessary suffering. They deny all the charges.

The trial continues.