Plea to avoid 'killing Dartmoor ponies with kindness'

Summer holiday visitors to Dartmoor are potentially killing ponies – and other livestock – with kindness by feeding them unsuitable items like apples.

The warning comes after several incidents of well-meaning tourists feeding ponies cooked picnic food or leaving containers of fruit and vegetables at the roadside for the beloved animals to feast on.

Popular spots such as the Pimple, and Pork Hill, both near Tavistock; and Haytor, near Bovey Tracey have all seen such gestures.

However, a livestock protection officer warns that this kindness is misplaced because even apples can kill a pony by causing severe indigestion and a twisted stomach.

The warning comes after a rare police sanction on a man for feeding livestock on the moor near Tavistock earlier this summer.

The Tavistock neighbourhood policing team issued a man from the Tavistock area with a community protection warning under moorland byelaws, banning him from feeding livestock and wild animals on Dartmoor.

The man was seen by a member of the public in July, feeding large quantities of bread rolls to the ponies near the Pimple. He was a repeat offender, having been warned previously by Dartmoor rangers for the same offences.

Feeding livestock from cars and on the roadside also encourages animals to wander onto roads and possibly be hit by traffic, with three foals killed in traffic collisions earlier this summer. All the ponies are owned by someone and any injury, illness or loss causes stress to the owners.

Dartmoor livestock protection officer Karla McKechnie was called out to a pony which became ill with colic - dangerous in equines - last week after eating something unsuitable.

She said: “People should be warned not to feed the ponies on Dartmoor. Firstly, they don’t need feeding and secondly, they are in danger of killing them through kindness. I know people are, naturally, attracted to the ponies and will stop in their cars and feed them. They think they’re doing the ponies and other livestock a favour. But even apples are unsuitable for ponies and can cause colic, which causes severe stomach problems and pain and ultimately when the ponies have spasms, can cause twisted stomachs which can prove fatal.

“I also came across a family stopped on Haytor feeding ham sandwiches to ponies. I told them it was the wrong thing to do, however, well-meaning. They stopped, but then threw the sandwiches at the ponies and ran off laughing. That proves I’m really up against it, as far as giving advice.”

Karla has also seen several bags and other containers full of windfall apples dumped by the roadside and laybys for animals to eat: “Not only are they inappropriate food for livestock, but it is dangerous to entice ponies to the side of the road because they will gather there expecting to be fed again and could wander into the path of traffic and be hurt. This is more likely as the days get shorter now.”

There are public signs warning moorland visitors against feeding livestock. The byelaws could be used to prosecute offenders under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, if feeding the ponies proves fatal.

Anyone who sees livestock in distress on the moors is asked to contact Karla McKechnie on 07873 587561.