Campaign History
A founder meeting took place on the 12th of February 2025, between Katie and Victoria. Campaign Planning and actions for the future were discussed with support from the BHS. Statistics were kindly provided by the BHS and also discussions on reporting incidents through the new BHS App were made.
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A petition was filed in Spring 2025 by Victoria, with additions from Katie's case. The Petition called upon the government for changes to the countryside code and in particular changes to the current legal system when prosecuting for incidents with out-of-control dogs and horses.
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Victoria set up the petition detailed in the article run by Your Horse Magazine.
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Katie and Victoria attended the National Equine Show in March 2025, to collect signatures and to promote the petition.
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The petition received great support with over 20,000 signatures and online support. The petition is no longer active, but DEFRA’s response can be viewed here:
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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700623
Katie contacted her local MP whilst the petition was still active. A Meeting with Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield, Katie and Des Payne a representative from the BHS took place in March 2025.
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Your Horse Magazine shared Katie's story in the magazine and ran a feature on dog incidents to raise the profile of incidents and rise in cases.
Following the meeting, Mr Yemm contacted Defra on Katie’s behalf, to ask for a response to questions surrounding the worrying response from DEFRA on the petition.
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On the 23rd May, Victoria's followers and supporters of the campaign were asked to send MP letters to voice their own concerns and share their own incidents with out of control dogs. Many who had their own story to share had not contacted their MP and Victoria and Katie felt it was an important step to take to document the serious need for changes.
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Your Horse Featured the story and campaign online in June:
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Owner of horse killed after dog attack in its field backs dangerous dogs petition - Your Horse
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On the 26th June, Victoria met with her MP Damien Hind to discuss the need for changes and raise awareness to the involvement of Steve Yemm.
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In August Mr Yemm met with Damien Hind to discuss cross party working and how opportunities in Parliament may be used.
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No response from DEFRA had been received at this point in time.
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In July Katie attended her local Rural Crime showcase at Rufford Country Park. She met with her Police Crime Commissioner Gary Godden and spoke to him about her loss and the seriousness of this campaign. She also met with the rural crime team and Horse Watch representatives.
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DEFRA responded on the 14th August 2025 and outlined the current laws that cover dog incidents and stated that " The Department is unable to comment on specifics of individual cases, and it is for enforcement authorities to apply the powers available to them where they deem is appropriate."
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They also commented that "It is for the Crown Prosecution service (CPS) to assess, o a case by case basis, whether to proceed with a prosecution under the legislation."
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Calls for other equestrians or members of public to who had experienced an out of control dog incident, to get in touch with their local MP's was made in August.
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Katie has been speaking with her Police Crime Commissioner office to try and secure a meeting between Mr Yemm and Gary Godden. As of yet, the PCC office has not reached out to Mr Yemm's office to secure a meeting date.
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