A Bristol animal rescue charity has issued an urgent appeal after it took in five malnourished and emaciated ponies after a major rescue operation. Horseworld said it was already at capacity when the urgent call came in from a range of agencies who were about to rescue five ‘extremely frightened and malnourished ponies’.
The Stockwood-based equine rescue centre has not revealed many details of the rescue operation itself, but said it could not turn away the ponies who were ‘in desperate need of our help’. The animals have been put into isolation as the long, slow process of nursing them back to health begins.
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A specific urgent appeal has been launched, telling the story of the rescue, which Horseworld said happened a long distance from Bristol.
“The economic crisis has had a huge impact on the number of horses in need - we were already at capacity and struggling with the unusually wet weather for the time of year meaning many of our fields are unusable,” a spokesperson said.
“Despite the pressure this places on our finances and resources we could not turn away from horses who are in desperate need of our help. At this moment in time, we have five extremely frightened and malnourished ponies being treated in our isolation facility that we weren’t expecting to rescue. An urgent call came in to ask if we could help with a major rescue operation involving multiple rescue charities.
“The HorseWorld welfare team sprung into action and the lorry was on the road. After a long journey to the rescue site, they were greeted with the pitiful sight of animals that had clearly been dealt a very cruel hand in life.
“They wouldn’t have survived much longer without help,” she said. “They had been abandoned and were completely unhandled and terrified of humans. In a situation like this the equine skills of our team are really tested but with plenty of patience and kindness they were able to coax the frightened, bewildered ponies into the lorry and transport them to the safety of HorseWorld.
“These ponies are likely to be the subject of a prosecution case meaning we are unable to go into details about their identity, location of the rescue and the circumstances that led to them being in such an appalling condition until court proceedings are over,” the spokesperson said.
“Our veterinary team have begun treating these rescued ponies which will be continued over the summer and it will take years of rehabilitation in the safe surroundings of HorseWorld to reach a stage where they might be suitable to find a loving home on our rehoming scheme. All this will place a financial pressure on HorseWorld and we cannot carry out this work without your support.
“One of the mares appears to be heavily pregnant but is so fearful of humans, it’s difficult at this stage to give her a proper veterinary examination. This would mean that the extra five ponies we’ve managed to squeeze in, could soon become six! The number of horses and ponies finding themselves in desperate need seems to be increasing faster than we can rescue them! Any funds raised above the amount needed for these five ponies will help others like them,” she added.
“It's incredibly difficult to raise the sizeable funds needed at the time of this kind of rescue when we are prevented from telling you all the details but rest assured, as soon as we can, we’ll keep you updated throughout their progress.
“Any amount you can give to help us meet these unexpected and substantial costs would make a real difference and help to give these ponies a chance of a much brighter future,” she added.
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