News Release 14th November 2021
•
Video reveals new buyer kicking young foal as it is loaded into trailer
– available on Facebook/Twitter
• Video reveals pony wrestled and dragged into lorry including
being lifted off the floor by its tail - breeching Welfare of Horses at
Market Act 1990.
• Welfare of Horses at Markets Act 1990 not adhered to with the majority
of animals left without water for the duration of the day.
• Devon Trading Standards have received People4ponies’ report and footage
from the sale and are investigating.
• Foals from as young as 4 months old for
sale • Highly stressed
animals crammed into overcrowded pens
• 330 wild animals sold in a day – with few people having the
experience to handle these animals, especially the adults – no home checking or
suitable facilities checked.
• Appeal for more information after anonymous report of two lorries
full of ponies headed to Ireland soon after the sale.
People4Ponies, a pony sanctuary
dedicated to helping wild and traumatised ponies, is calling for an end to the
"Chagford Drift Pony Sale", an annual auction of wild ponies taken
off Dartmoor. The call follows the 2021 auction that took place in October,
involving the sale of highly stressed and traumatised foals as young as four
months, taken away from their mothers and thrust into an unfamiliar and
frightening environment. Many of the ponies were in overcrowded pens, left for
hours in the full sun, most without food, and the majority without water with
only one seller out of the 20 listed having been seen to provide this.
People4Ponies has submitted a complaint (including video footage and report) to
Trading Standards, the UK government body responsible for monitoring and
investigating animal health and welfare of animals at markets.
The group also has concerns that no checks are carried out on the people
who buy the ponies to see if they are suitable for the responsibility of having
a pony. Footage taken of a teenage boy kicking a pony as the animal was loaded
onto a trailer raises serious questions regarding the fate of many of these
ponies.
The tourists who visit Dartmoor, are 'fed' the romantic and nostalgic picture
of the ponies roaming freely across the moor. This picture hides the stark
reality of what happens to the ponies: the extreme stress experienced by many
of these ponies at the auction, who only days before had been roaming freely on
Dartmoor. In the wild, foals can remain with their mothers until they are
around two years old, but most of those sold at the market were likely to have
been still suckling when they were taken away.
People4ponies is also very concerned about a report of 2 lorries of
ponies leaving for Ireland soon after the sale and they are appealing for more
information.
Spokesperson for People4Ponies, Faye Stacey stated:
’We are very concerned about an anonymous report of 2 lorries headed to
Ireland after the sale and we would appeal for more information—last year a
whole wild herd of Bodmin ponies disappeared and couldn’t be traced by the
authorities and a huge lorry was said to have also headed to Ireland.’
’The Welfare of Horses at Markets Act 1990 is supposed to
protect the ponies for sale. Ensuring they are prevented from suffering
thirst, not kept in overcrowded pens (there were 29 ponies in one of the pens)
and that they are not to be lifted off the ground or dragged by the head, neck,
ear, leg or tail. The need for water in particular is greater when the
individuals are in a highly stressful situation, as is the case at this Sale.
The market authority is required to ensure that an adequate supply of wholesome
water is available for horses and that adequate facilities in the form of
troughs, drinking bowls, buckets or other drinking devices are available for
watering horses. Sadly no-one was seen to enforce these regulations on
the day.’
’Literally anyone can buy a wild pony at a market – whether
they have any relevant knowledge, experience or not. It takes very
specialist skills to handle wild ponies, particularly the adults who will not
only be wild but will have been through unsympathetic handling and hot
branding. The average horse owner or riding school does not teach the
specialist skills and knowledge needed to tame these animals. To put
things into perspective the biggest charity in the country rehomes 300 horses
in a year after receiving training – here in the region of 330 wild horses were
sold in a day. Whilst some will have found good homes I worry about the
future of ponies such as the one captured in the footage being kicked by its
new owner.’
Notes:
- For further information, please contact: Faye Stacey, People4Ponies: Tel
07968 071179 Email: people4ponies@yahoo.co.uk
- High resolution photographs and video footage available. Video is
already available on www.facebook.com/People4ponies
or can be sent by WeTransfer
- The Welfare of Horses at Markets Act 1990 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1990/2627/article/2/made
- Number of horses rehomed by World Horse Welfare:
https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/rehome
- Illegality of Ponies being Exported:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/export-horses-and-ponies-special-rules
All ponies, whether registered (“pure-bred” ponies) or unregistered
(ponies such as Dartmoor Hill ponies with no pedigree), are supposed to be
legally protected under the Minimum Value Legislation to prevent them from
being exported from Britain to Ireland or Europe for slaughter. For any pony
under 14.2 hands high to be transported to Ireland or Europe they must have
documentation, which includes proof of their value of £300 for a pony between
12-14.2hh, £220 for a pony up to 12hh and £145 for Shetlands up to 10.2hh. An
export license is required, and a fitness to travel or health certificate
signed by a vet has to be included. If unregistered ponies are being travelled
to Europe then a Journey Log is also required which includes details of the
transit, stopping areas so that legal journey times are not exceeded, and a vet
is supposed to check the animals on departure and on arrival - but any pony
being travelled has to meet the minimum value requirements. There are now
new regulations that require more prechecks such as blood tests and quarantine
periods before horses can be transported.
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