A LEE Moor charity has taken action to try to control the ‘indiscriminate breeding’ of Dartmoor’s ponies that means hundreds of the cuddly creatures have to be slaughtered each year.

Hill Pony Resources organised a gelding clinic, which saw colts belonging to one farmer castrated to stop them making mares on the moor pregnant.

The clinic was run thanks to the generosity of people who donated money via the charity’s Facebook page, as well as vets Richard Walters and Rhiana Orchard from South Moor Vets, who gave up their time to perform the procedure on eight animals.

The charity’s founder Mary Houghton said: ‘Hill Pony Resources was originally set up to find homes for Dartmoor Hill Ponies, but we are also interested in ways in which they can stay on the moor without the need for so many to be culled yearly.

‘Every year ponies which are not sent to market or found homes, and which do not return to the moor are shot by the local knackerman. It is quite often the colts that suffer this fate as people do not wish to buy a pony and then have to pay for the operation to castrate them later on.

‘We contacted a local farmer to see if we could return some of his colts to the moor gelded if we could fundraise, and we were really pleased that he agreed, and set about fundraising.

‘The success of the gelding clinic was due to cooperative working between ourselves, the farmer, South Moor Vets and the very large donation made by the general public who have been following Dartmoor hill pony issues over the past few years. Donations varied from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds.

‘These ponies will not, now contribute to the indiscriminate breeding which results in a yearly cull of hundreds, whose fate has been a meal for zoo animals, or the recent promotion of using the meat for human consumption. The public outcry caused by these schemes has

been well documented.

‘Keeping geldings on the moor alongside mares and removing stallions will limit breeding for a period, and a small number of ponies could be bred for stock replacement and for potential homes. Eventually the market price of the pony will rise because the market isn’t over saturated.

‘We hope that by positive promotion and working together with other organisations we can give the ponies their value back and ensure they have a positive future.

‘The ponies belong to Dartmoor and the people who live on or like to visit Dartmoor. The public support for this clinic shows how valued the ponies are.’

For more information on Hill Pony Resources, find the charity on Facebook or Twitter or email [email protected].