Target: Devon Councillor, John Hart
Goal: Ban the sale of Dartmoor ponies at allegedly abusive auction.
Dartmoor ponies are mini horses known for their resiliency and determination. Upsettingly, there’s recent video evidence appearing to show these ponies being abused and tormented while they are sold off at auction.
Sellers of the animals apparently don’t see these creatures in their own right, but instead as cargo to make a profit off of. The freely-roaming animals are rounded up in the fall, then taken to an annual pony auction in Dartmoor, where the little horses are traded away for a massive profit.
Recent footage shows that after the ponies were rounded up this past autumn, their captors seemingly left many of the animals without food or water, putting them in danger of death, and tormenting them with dehydration and malnutrition. For those that survived until auction, further videos reportedly show handlers picking up ponies by their tails, and at least one apparently kicked a pony to force the animal onto a trailer.
Even worse, after being sold ponies face an uncertain fate. While some join loving families, others are sold to slaughterhouses, butchered for scientific research, or become meat for both human and animal consumption. Some pony meat winds up in pet food, while some hunks and slabs wind up in zoo animals’ dinners.
More than 300 horses were listed for sale this past season, which means hundreds of animals could have been abused or neglected; we simply don’t know the full scope of the alleged cruelty yet. While a spokesperson for the auction said that the organization was “looking into the matter,” that’s just not enough. These ponies don’t deserve to become meat. They don’t deserve to be kicked and hurt. And they don’t deserve to be sold off in the first place.
Thankfully, many people in the Dartmoor area agree. A group called People 4 Ponies runs an animal sanctuary nearby and they’re fighting to shut down the auction. It’s time for us to stand with them. Sign the petition to demand an end to the annual sale of ponies in Dartmoor.
PETITION LETTER
Dear Councillor Hart,
Each year hundreds of Dartmoor ponies are rounded up in “the drift,” and taken to be sold at auction. Recent videos appear to show the sellers and auctioneers abusing these animals, leaving them without food and water, kicking them, and pulling them by their tails.
After they are sold they may face an even worse fate. While some are kept as pets, others are allegedly sent to slaughterhouses as food for pets or zoo animals. More than 300 horses were listed for sale just this year, which means that hundreds of these creatures could have been abused. These ponies do not deserve to be sold off, abused, or killed. It is time to end the sale of ponies in Dartmoor. Please, end this awful practice.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: lostajy
This takes place all over Europe, horses are rounded up and sent for slaughter. Many are unwanted due to ovrbreeding, and that includes racehorses.
All equines face similar fates, donkeys are slaughtered for meat.
Animals that are intended for slaughter face cruelty everyday, long distance transportation without water, overheating and then rough handling. Live transports like this have to stop.
How can people manage to be s0 utterly cruel to such gorgeous animals as ponies as well as horses too and all other species…?!?????
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE AND MUST END.
Devon Councillor, John Hart – you are in a position to make a difference in the lives of these Dartmoor ponies who are being sold at auctions by banning the sale altogether. Every living thing on this planet has a right to be here and the will to live is the same for man and beast alike. Please do the right thing here and ban the sale of Dartmoor ponies at auctions! Please!
Evil cruel people and greedy beyond measure and they delight in their own greedy abominations because that’s what it’s all about… Greed and for the people eating these horses I hope they get sick to death and die a very horrible early death because it says in Leviticus in the Bible what you can eat and not eat and if you eat the things that God does not want you to eat then those people are unclean and then they get sick and die early of heart disease and so on and so forth so be it!
I’m running out of words… grotesque, horrendous, sickening, subhuman…
John – I don’t know how you sleep at night, knowing this is happening while you hold the power to change it! Time to replace you with someone who values ALL life on this planet…
“People” are falling to new unbelievable depths of depravity and greed. Thank goodness there are some angels out there to look after the precious ponies before they’re extinct like some of our other species.
The scumbags involved in the abuse and death of animals must have the death penalty implemented.A slow and agonising death for them is essential.