Cristina Hodgson
THE Guardia Civil in Granada has opened an investigation into a 47-year-old man – with no previous police record – into a crime of suspected animal abuse, relating to the neglect of a pony in Motril, on the Granada coast.
Following an alert given by an animal protection organisation in Malaga warning that there was a pony with ‘obvious signs of abandonment’ on a farm in Velez de Benaudalla, the Motril Seprona unit of the Guardia Civil proceeded to investigate.
Upon visiting the reported location, the officers found a pony whose hooves had grown disproportionately, due to lack of proper care, which prevented him from moving, and caused him strong and continuous pain.
Additionally, the pony lacked food, water and a roof for shelter.
As a result, the Seprona officers contacted the Andalusian Horse Rescue Centre in Málaga to take the pony into care at their facilities.
Unfortunately, due to the state of abandonment in which the pony was found, suffering from severe and irreversible laminitis (inflammation and damage of the tissue between the hoof and the underlying coffin bone), the animal was put down.
The owner now faces charges over alleged animal cruelty pending on a court trial ruling.
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