[Daisy]

Copied from another forum

I received this from one of our local instructors:

"Jim (the field office for the World Horse Welfare) wants this information passed around, he would like as many of the ponies to be sold private, and is looking to pass the word to as many people as possible that would seriously consider taking on one of these ponies.
 
The Ponies are the ones from Dallas (Moray) that were rounded up earlier this year.  Largest preventative horse welfare operation in UK hailed a success

 some clips on youtube by WHW.
 
Basically the owner has large herds of feral ponies and called in WHW for help with them and to reduce the number of ponies.
 
On Wed 31st of  August the WHW are holding a viewing day at Dallas for interested parties to see the ponies, with a view to purchase the ponies direct from the owner (not from the WHW) Most of the ponies have had little or no handling.
 
If anyone would seriously consider buying one of these ponies from owner please get in touch with Jim on 07803 184810 or Caroline Herd on 077209 66623 for details of the viewing day."

 Jim Maxwell, the WHW officer whose tel number is given in Equus post above.....he is actually on holiday this week and is asking anyone interested in these ponies to ring Caroline instead. He himself won't be available to take calls until Tues 30th.
He has asked me to let everyone know that Wed 31st is purely a viewing day, with the option to reserve a pony with the owner - no ponies will be available to take away that day as they are running free again and will need to be caught and boxed at a later date.
He also asked me to re-iterate that they are only assisting the owner and WHW are not responsible in any way for the sale of these ponies, and any dealings must be done through the owner.
Anyone who has re-posted the original thread to another forum should amend their post re Jim's tel number - thanks.

[calamityjane]

have you tried putting an ad on horsey stuff for sale in scotland on facebook there is a few other sites too

[shetlandpaul]

in the scottish farmer there was a letter saying that they were being sold at the marts foe meat. i hope this is not true, I have nothing against horses going for meat infact it would help the native breeds retain a value. however a welfare organisation should not be involved.

[lachlanandmarcus]

If the welfare organisation has retrieved them  and does its best (genuinely) to find them homes, but there are not enough homes, then I dont have an issue with the remainder going for meat: far better that than being left in the situation they would have ended up with the overstocking and inbreeding and numbers out of control, or of them being passed to unvetted homes. They are unhandled, unregistered, and there's such a large number that it will be very hard to find all of them good homes.

The overbreeding of unwanted horses in the UK and Ireland means sometimes very hard choices having to be made, eg mass culls having to be proposed in Ireland. With hay down south going for £7-8 a small bale, even previously 'good' owners are starting to struggle.

But I would imagine they will be trying their best at the viewing day and subsequently to rehome them before they would go for meat, but it's the owners decision because these horses were not cruelty or neglect seizures and so what happens to them is the owner's call; WHW are only involved in helping the roundup and trying to give as much publicity as possible so as many as possible can be rehomed. I dont think that conflicts with their aims.

[Hopewell]

Whilst we would all like to see these ponies rehomed, there will be a limited number of people able to take a feral pony, and not all of them will adjust to new homes, so I agree that slaughter may be the only option for some. I also think that slaughter done in a humane way is not a welfare issue.

[Rosemary]

These ponies do not belong to WHW - they belong to the farmer who bred them. He invited WHW (and others) to help with the round-up and subsequent treatment. The ponies were nover signed over to WHW or the subject of any court case.

I agree that slaughter, humanely and locally, is a better option. In the States, where mustangs have been "saved" from slaughter, many live out their miserable lives in little yards.

[shetlandpaul]

its just a shame that whw can't find space for the ones not sold. but yes a quick death would be better than a missrable life. its just a shame that its got to that state in the horse market that highlands end up in this state.