One of the foals had become trapped in thick overgrown brambles
The four ponies, two mares and two foals, found in a hazardous Hull field(Image: rspca.org.uk)
Four ponies are receiving specialist care after they were removed from a field in Hull because of concerns for their welfare. The equines – two mares and their foals – were found in unsuitable conditions on the site at Campbell Court, Exeter Grove, and the RSPCA is appealing for anyone with information about them to come forward.
Officers from the charity and World Horse Welfare visited the site on February 3 after the ponies’ owner had failed to respond to an urgent request to get in touch. The two cob mares and their foals were all underweight and had non-existent grazing and no supplementary feed, the RSPCA said.
The charity also said bottles, rubbish and broken glass were also strewn in the field, which is council-owned. One of the foals had also become trapped in thick overgrown brambles and had to be cut free.
The ponies are now being cared for at private facilities on behalf of the RSPCA and making good progress. Laura Barber, RSPCA inspector, said: “Concerns had been raised with us and when we visited the site with our colleagues from World Horse Welfare it was clear these animals, two of whom were particularly young and vulnerable, could not stay like this.
“Their environment was hazardous and their most basic needs were not being met. It’s possible, of course, that they had been left at this location and the owner was not intending to come back.
“We’re really hoping someone in the local area may recognise these ponies or have information which could help our ongoing enquiries.” The ponies are described as a Cremello cob mare, between 11 to 12 hands high, and her grey roan filly foal.
There was also a piebald cob mare, of the same height, wearing a black head collar, with a piebald colt foal. Anyone with information is asking to contact the RSPCA, in confidence, by calling 0300 123 8018, quoting reference number 01725332.
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