| All-time
low for Dartmoor Pony population |
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| Can
the Dartmoor Pony be saved? |
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There
are fears over the future of the Dartmoor Pony, after the number of
animals on the moor halved in just six months. Farmers say the ponies
are a luxury they can no longer afford and that subsidies are needed.
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The number
of ponies on Dartmoor has halved in the space of six months and there
are now only around 800 left on the moor.
The Dartmoor Pony - the symbol of the national park - was once a common
sight on the moor. Just half a century ago there were 30,000 ponies
there.
Now, there's a real danger there will soon be none left at all - and
farmers are blaming equine passports for being the last nail in the
coffin.
Farmers are getting rid of their ponies because of the cost of the
passports, which are needed when they're sold on.
The passports are £10, but the price fetched at auction for
some ponies is as little as £5.
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| Peter
Palmer |
Farmers
are now urging the Government to offer grants or subsidies which will
enable them to keep and breed ponies.
One farmer, Peter Palmer had a herd of 60 ponies 10 years ago. Now,
he has none.
"When we sold them, I was crying in the ring," he said.
"The passports were the last thing which we didn't want to bear.
"The ponies weren't making a lot of profit anyway and you pay
more for the passport than what the ponies are worth."
Another farmer, Miles Partridge, believes the solution is simple:
"We need money, and it needs to be an annual payment to people.
"If we don't get the money the ponies will go - they are going."
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| The
pony is the symbol of the national park authority |
The situation
has reached crisis point, according to Charlotte Faulkner of Friends
of the Dartmoor Hill Pony: "I think we're probably down to 800
ponies now, which is very serious really.
"I haven't liked to ask where they're going. I think probably
into tins.
"I think quite a lot are being sent up country to be broken and
become riding or driving ponies.
"And then some are going to Bristol to feed the lions."
Maureen Rolls of the South West Equine Protection Society on Dartmoor
said one of the problems was there are so many cross breeds on the
moor and very few pure bred Dartmoor Ponies, and that has driven the
price down.
The farming ministry, Defra, argues that if the ponies are kept on
Dartmoor they don't need passports at all.
The ministry also points out that the passports are part of European
legislation to make sure ponies and horses sold for human consumption
meet the required standards.
Article published: 18th April 2004
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