Report of Dartmoor Hill Pony Foal in Difficulty...and Her Emaciated Mare - Hope's Story Day 1

This morning SWEP received a call from a member of the public who reported a Dartmoor Hill Pony Foal that was in difficulty on the moor.  It had been born the previous evening but in the morning it still had its umbilical cord and sac attached.   The foal had no mother with her so we took the foal to our rescue centre to give her collostrum and to get our equine vet to treat her.

Whilst the foal was being cared for and seen by our vet, SWEP officers returned to the moor to see if they could find the mother of the foal.  There was only one pony in the vicinity - the mare was in an emaciated condition and was dripping milk but didn't have enough to feed a foal - we believe she is the mother of the foal at our yard.  Our Welfare Officer attended the site and stayed with the mare.  Our equine vet certified that the mare is condition score 1, has a poor coat and is malnourished.  The mare has an identification mark which shows that her owner is the same as that of the pony who was with-held treatment and left to die of septicaemia on February 5th (see the blog entry on this date).

During the afternoon of the 11th, our Officer contacted Trading Standards to inform them of the breach of the Animal Welfare Act. They say they no longer enforce the Animal Welfare Act and that she should ring Defra.  Our Officer rang Defra who informed her that they do not enforce the Animal Welfare Act - they assist Trading Standards on occasion but I would need to talk to Trading Standards or the Police. Our Officer rang the Police who said that it is Defra who enforce the Animal Welfare Act that they cannot give SWEP permission to remove the pony to our yard whilst enquiries into the matter take place. 

We had to leave the mare (who is later named Hope) out on the moor, and we arranged for the foal to have constant care during the night. Despite all our efforts, the foal died at 11pm.