Injured Foal - Possible Victim of a RTC

SWEP received a report early this morning of an injured foal on the old railway line footpath at Princetown.  SWEP attended the foal which was lame on one of its hind legs.  The area where the foal lives in very familar to us and it is sad to see a healthy foal that we have been watching with delight now suffering from an injury.  It is possible that the injury was sustained from a road traffic collision.  The foal belongs to one of the responsible pony keepers on the moor, who came out to collect the foal to remove it from the moor.

Update 10th June: This foal has been returned to the moor - its leg is a little stiff but the foal is moving OK and is back out with its herd

Vehicle drivers who hit livestock out on the open moorland are legally required to report the incident, but unfortunately many animals are victims of a "hit and run".  Whilst an animal may intially run off after being hit, left without any treatment or humane destruction, they often suffer a painful death from internal injuries.

Callout to Deformed New-Born Dartmoor Hill Pony Foal

SWEP received a phone call from a member of the public to report a Dartmoor Hill Pony Foal in trouble at "The Pimple", in the area of Tavistock Golf Club.  The walker had seen the foal in the morning and was concerned about it, so went back to check on it in the afternoon.  Two of our officers attend.  The foal is not able to stand up properly and is described as "walking on its ankles", rather than its hooves.  It also has an undershot jaw.  The owner of the foal is called out, and explains that the reason for the foal being like this is because the mare is a first time mother.  He agrees to let SWEP take the foal but wants to keep the mare.

SWEPs vet was called out to our yard to assess the foal.  The problem did not appear to be a tendon problem which is sometimes seen in larger horses.  At first the vets felt that we should try corrective splints to see if that would solve the problem of her legs...but some time later the foal starting fitting and the decision was made to have her humanely put to sleep.

This is the third deformed Dartmoor Hill Pony foal to be brought to our yard this year - these problems are caused by inbreeding of ponies on the moor.









The pony was walking on it's front legs rather than on its front hooves

 

Another Mare In Poor Condition at Long Ash

SWEP officers continue to find ponies in poor condition at Long Ash.  With the authorities turning a blind eye to cases of wild pony neglect, there are no consequences for breeders who neglect their animals.

Hope's Story Day 3 - The Rescue

On Friday 13th our officer returned to the moor to find that "Hope" had not yet been removed from the common.  Our Officer contacted Defra and the RSPCA who were not going to come out to check whether Hope had been removed or not, but they were able to contact Hope's owner to remind him that she had to be removed from the moor by the end of the day.

Our Officer sat with Hope until she was eventually removed from the moor to the pound. Once at the pound, we paid the farmer £30 for her so that she now legally belonged to SWEP. The mare was now covered in tics due to her poor condition. We travelled Hope the short, 5 minute journey to our rescue centre so that she could start receiving the care she needs.

We were told by a BBC reporter that the RSPCA claimed they would not prosecute the owner of this pony because the mare had not suffered. The mare would have to be condition score "0" before they prosecuted, which means that a pony is literally within a few days of death.

31/07/11 -  Here is Hope today - as you can see, thanks to the dedication of our yard staff, she has recovered extremely well from her emaciated condition...and is now on restricted grazing to ensure that she remains a healthy weight.  Eventually she will be rehomed under our loan pony scheme.  No prosecution case was ever brought by the enforcing bodies against Hope's owners.

Third Emaciated Dartmoor Hill Pony found at Chubb Tor

On the same day we rescued Hope, on the same area of moorland, our Welfare Officer discovered this third mare in poor condition (in worse condition than Hope) who had a newborn foal. Our Officer informed Defra and the RSPCA. The RSPCA spoke to the owner who said that he had not seen this mare for 2.5 years! The RSPCA said to our Officer that the owner is "Doing the best that he can".

We believe this is totally unacceptable. Our own officer is able to locate these ponies on the moorland and in this particular case the ponies are on a small, enclosed common. There are pony keepers on the moor who we are never called to for welfare cases because they are responsible and do ensure the welfare of their animals in a semi-feral environment.

On Monday the 16th, our Welfare Officer found that the owner had removed this mare and foal from the moor. We asked the RSPCA officer if he would check on the pony. He informed us that as an RSPCA Officer he has no more powers than we do, and that the farmer would prevent him from coming onto his land. We expressed concern that the mare will not have enough milk for the foal, and we were told to inform Defra and they might be able to access the farm to check on the pony.

We informed Defra of the case by email. We received a phone message to say that Defra had received the information but they wouldn’t be able to tell us if they were going to visit the pony, or whether they would take any action or not because all the information was classified under the Data Protection Act.  So, disappointingly we have no information as to whether the pony was checked on, or received care or not.

Second Hill Pony Mare in Poor Condition at Chubb Tor

Hope had now rejoined a herd.  With her was another mare (shown in the photo above), who had the same identification mark, so has the same owner as Hope.  This second mare is heavily pregnant.  The Defra vet decides that she "deserves a chance" and should stay out on the moor

Hope's Story - Day 2

Today our Welfare Officer went back out to the moor to find Hope.  She was able to get a Defra vet and an RSPCA officer to attend the moor. They said that they would not bring a prosecution against the owner and the only thing they would be able to do is issue an "improvement notice" that would require the farmer to remove the pony from the moor.  Both the Defra vet and the RSPCA Officer claimed that the responsibilities of an owner of a moorland pony are unclear in the Animal Welfare Act.   This is astonishing because  even the Equine Industry Welfare Guidelines Compendium produced in conjunction with Defra and the RSPCA states:
"Semi-feral horses, grazed extensively on semi-natural habitats including heathland, forest and moorland, should be inspected for, amongst other things, body condition, hoof condition, signs of injury, ill-health, and the availability of food and water, preferable daily. Managing horses in a semi-feral state does pose greater challenges for inspection and handling but owners and keepers have legal responsibilities to ensure the welfare of their horses under the Animal Welfare Act irrespective of their chosen management system".

The RSPCA officer went to find the farmer, who came out to the site. The farmer said that there was nothing wrong with the pony. He was told that he should remove the pony from the moor and get a vet to the pony. The owner said that he wouldn’t get a vet and he would get the pony shot because now there is a scheme in place where he gets paid for the meat of the pony (part of the licensing of this scheme was given by Defra – so now farmers effectively get paid/rewarded if they neglect their animals, as well as if they keep them in good condition). The RSPCA and Defra felt this was acceptable and the RSPCA officer started to help round the pony up to get it into the trailer. The ponies ran off into the distance, and in the presence of the Defra vet and RSPCA officer I was able to offer the farmer £30 for the pony (which the farmer claimed was the meat price he would get for pony) so that the pony could be brought into our care. Defra gave the farmer 24 hours to remove the pony from the moor.

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.

Another Mare Having Difficulty Foaling

SWEP attends a report of another "Hill" pony mare in trouble at Long Ash.  The mare was in such poor condition that she just didn't have the energy to give birth.  A SWEP officer stayed with the mare who did manage to give birth unassisted and without any human intervention.

Mare Having Difficulty Foaling

We received a late evening call from a member of the public reporting a Hill pony mare having difficulty foaling on Dartmoor near to Ivybridge. It was witnessed that the foal was stuck inside the mare.  SWEP reported the pony to the Commoners – they contacted a local farmer who said it wasn’t his and if he couldn't find the owner he would send someone out.

Deformed Hill Pony Foal and Mare In Poor Condition





Deformed foal

 



Mare in poor condition who had just given birth.  She laid down next to her foal in an effort to help it feed

  SWEP responded to a call reporting a deformed "Hill" pony foal and its mare in poor condition at Long Ash.  The foal was unable to get up and the mare had laid down alongside her foal in an effort to encourage it to drink its first milk.  The foal was taken to the SWEP yard so our vet could come out to treat it, and it was given collostrum.  The mare in poor condition was reported to its owner, who came and removed the mare from the moor.  He did not want SWEP to care for the foal and removed it from our care.  Neither the mare or foal have been seen since.

These sorts of problems and deformities in foals are usually caused by inbreeding.  SWEP has been attending to multiple reports of ponies in poor condition in this area throughout the winter and spring.