Dead Foal on Yennadon Down

On the evening of Tuesday 23rd July, 2013, we received a call from a lady out riding her horse informing us she had come across a dead foal, her horse was naturally spooked by it so she rode on. Our welfare assistant went out in order to try and identify the foals mother and inform the owner. On arrival the first thing that was noticed was that the top of the foals ear had been cut off, the cut was clean and looked like a pair of scissors or a knife had been used. On further investigation it was noted the foals male genitals had been cut out and its eyes were missing, the eyes could have been taken by crows. The tongue had been pulled out and its belly slit open. There was no evidence of excessive blood spill, claw or bite marks or gun shot wounds. There were lines of white paint coming from the foals head and front legs pointing South-West. All this aroused suspicion and the Police were informed.

We do not know if the desecration and mutilation of this foal took place when he was alive or once he was dead or how many people were involved. Either way it is criminal damage as the foal is owned by someone. If the foal was still alive and not properly sedated these actions would have caused extreme pain, suffering and distress. Taking the foal away from its mother at such a young age would have caused distress to the mare and she is now at risk of developing mastitis in her udder, this can be an extremely painful condition and can result in serious infection and abscesses.

There is some suggestion of a ritualistic motive, however we are keeping an open mind.

The Police are investigating this matter and have appealed for anyone who knows anything about the incident to contact them on 101 stating reference number 91823072013 or you can contact us and we will forward any details to the Police, we will treat all calls with the strictest confidence.

We would like to remind anyone using Dartmoor or Bodmin Moor not to feed or pet any of the ponies you may encounter, no matter how tame or cute they may be. These actions can make them less fearful of humans making them more vulnerable to any individuals who mean to do them harm them.