Welfare charities and government agencies have carried out rescue work to remove ponies from Bodmin Moor in Cornwall as concerns for their welfare grew. Redwings Horse Sanctuary sent its head of welfare, plus seven staff and two lorries and a trailer to aid the removal of 19 ponies – efforts which led to praise from Animal Health & Defra Minister Jim Paice.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary, HorseWorld, DEFRA and Trading Standards have been working with the local community to secure the removal of 19 ponies from the area. In need of urgent veterinary attention and some just days from death, the ponies appear to have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves on Bodmin Moor, which covers 80 square miles.

No owners have been identified and the local people who have grazing rights to the land insist the neglected animals do not belong to them. It is possible that the ponies have instead been abandoned on the Moor in the last few weeks, which correlates with a warning given by Redwings, the UK’s largest horse sanctuary, just a few weeks ago on rising abandonment.

Redwings Head of Welfare Nicolas De Brauwere MRCVS explains the condition of the 19 ponies: “The ponies are emaciated and suffering from various ailments including worms and lice. I am certain that at least three of those ponies would not have lived for more than a few days without our help.” They have been removed to a secure location to receive urgent veterinary treatment.

Redwings was asked to have involvement with the rescue as it has extensive experience of rescuing wild and semi-feral horses and ponies from open land: “It was an incredibly challenging environment for the staff with so many sick animals but the rescue went extremely smoothly,” concludes Nic. “We were fortunate to have so many other agencies involved, and the fantastic help of the local people, which meant we were able to round up those ponies in need of care and remove them to a place of safety as soon as we could.”

Today, Animal Health & Defra Minister Jim Paice has issued a statement which gave his thoughts on the rescue and those involved: “We would like to thank everyone involved for their help, particularly the commoners and the Bodmin Moor Interim Council who have been incredibly supportive and co-operative. We would also like to thank Redwings, the horse sanctuary, for their experience and professionalism, both of which were indispensable in the successful removal of these animals.”

He added: “ The commoners and the horse sanctuary have shown a great deal of compassion. I know they’ve been working closely with Animal Health to identify ponies on Bodmin Moor which are in a bad condition, and I’d like to thank them for volunteering their expertise so that the ponies can be properly looked after. It’s a classic example of the Big Society in action, and we could all learn a lot from the tremendous example set by the volunteers.”

Jerry Watkins, Animal Welfare Manager at HorseWorld in Bristol, also commented: “It was super to work collaboratively with Redwings again for the betterment of equine welfare - partnerships like this between equine charities are such an important and vital aspect of our work.”

To learn more about the work of Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which relies entirely on public donation and has 1200 residents and a further 500 in Guardian Homes, please visit www.redwings.co.uk or call 01508 481000.