Ponies in Poor Condition near Higher Dewey

Whilst driving through the area of Higher Dewey in Cornwall our welfare officer noticed a group of under weight and listless ponies, she stopped to investigate further.

All the ponies in the group were thin and when approached did not make an effort to move, they were muddy up to their knees which indicated they had been foraging in the bog area in an effort to find food.

The DEFRA vet was called the next day and photos were emailed to her for her opinion, she agreed that these ponies were in very poor condition and needed to be removed as soon as possible.

She knew who owned the ponies and assured us they would be contacted and the ponies would be removed shortly, we will return to the area in a couple of weeks to ensure this has been actioned.

Pony Killed in RTC on B3417

We received a call from a lady who had been travelling on the bus from Cornwood to Plymouth to raise her concerns about a pony she had seen lying close to the road side coming up to Lee Moor. She said it looked like it had been hit by a vehicle and was possibly dead. Our welfare assistant went out to assess the situation, however on arrival there was no sign of any pony lying close to the road. The surrounding area was investigated to see if any of the ponies present were injured, all ponies seen looked well and uninjured.

Our welfare assistant decided to call a farmer she knew kept ponies on that stretch of moor and he confirmed that the pony was his and it had been reported to him. Between the call from the lady on the bus and our welfare officer arriving he had removed the pony from the road.

The pony was a mare, so very likely to be in foal, and her owner said she had been hit at such force she would have been killed out right.

The speed limit on this stretch of road is 40mph and there are plenty of signs to remind drivers, however many people still insist on exceeding this limit and accidents involving ponies and other livestock are inevitable.

Concern for Ponies Roaming onto A30 from Halvanna Forest

We were called in the morning by a concerned land owner who had seen a group of ponies that were roaming out of an open gate on the A30 side of Halvanna Forest near Eastmoor, Cornwall. She said the ponies had been there for a few weeks, however as food was becoming sparse they were roaming closer and closer to the extremely busy A30. Our welfare officer contacted the commoners committee
who attended the scene and secured the ponies by closing the gate. Later on in the afternoon we received another call from a concerned party, we decided to go and see for ourselves.

Our welfare staff arrived at the scene and the ponies were loitering around a closed gate that had been tied with baler twine, we counted nine ponies. All looked to be in OK condition apart from one colt, who was a little underweight. There were a mixture of mares, youngsters and stallions, some of the mares looked heavily pregnant.

We contacted the commoners representative again who informed us that a gentleman working in the forest had shut the gate and tied it up to ensure the ponies were confined overnight. He had assured her that he was the last person to be leaving that night so they would be safe.

This issue is ongoing and we will update the blog as soon as it has been resolved.