Sentenced to die – ponies face cull

10 October 2001



Sentenced to die – ponies face cull

By Adrienne Francis

DARTMOOR ponies will suffer and die because of foot-and-mouth restrictions, a decline in prices and inbreeding, warns the RSPCA.

The national papers are emblazoned with pony images as the animal welfare group makes arrangements to oversee a winter cull.

Around 3000 ponies live in the National Park, and nearly 1000 foals are born each year, reports the Daily Mail.

Two farms suffered outbreaks of foot-and-mouth on the 365-square-mile moor, which was closed to visitors for four months from March to June.

Many of the major markets for ponies sold as riding stock have been cancelled or postponed because of disease restrictions.

The paper says the chances of farmers selling surplus stock are slim.

Maurice Retallick, a farmer from Haytor, near Newton Abbot says that there are no other options available other than cull.

“They cannot be sold and something has to be done to protect them from the harsh weather,” the paper quotes him as saying.

Mr Retallick is a member of the Dartmoor Commoners Council, the farmers who have a right to let their livestock graze on the moor.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said many animals would be slaughtered.

“Its terribly sad, but at least we know that if they have been killed in a supervised cull they will have died humanely and not starved to death.”

Animal rights campaigners responded to the news by demanding farmers to stop breeding unwanted foals, according to the Guardian.

The RSPCA hopes to help formulate a management plan to reduce numbers and improve the quality of ponies on the moor.

Overcrowding has been a problem on the moor for many years, because interbreeding has made the ponies less valuable and saleable.

Last year, individuals sold for 50p and some farmers threatened to shoot their animals if the prices did not improve.

In the past, ponies were sold to make pet food or exported as horsemeat.

Animal welfare concerns ended these practices and the main market for these animals now is as riding stock.

• Dartmoor farmers cant sell ponies, FWi, 13 October, 2000
• Farmers shoot worthless ponies, FWi, 26 November, 1999
• Dartmoor ponies may be shot as prices fall to 1 a head, FWi, 30 September, 1998