xenia1000
New User
In the UK we have no choice - all our foals must be micro chipped. This year we have just had three done - two miniture shetlands and one that will make around 14.2
Anyway I just wanted to share Jack's story with you and ask you please to consider it if you ever have the opportunity to stand up against this micro chipping policy.
This year we had three successful foals and about a month ago they were microchipped. Before being weaned they had lived in a herd of 10 ponies and were all perfectly happy and healthy ponies. We brought them in for weaning and then about 3 weeks later called the vet to have them microchipped. They seemed fine immediately after the micro chip was done.
Two days later we went to take the smallest of the three Jack to his new home (a field just 5 minutes walk from ours) but he wasn't right - his back legs were stiff and he looked a bit lame. Needless to say he didn't go to his new home that day but he improved quickly and we came to the conclusion that he had been playing a little rough with his little friend. About four days later he went off to his new home perfectly happy and healthy it seemed. Only a couple of days later his new owner rang in a panic to say that Jack had fallen over in the field and couldn't get up. We went to see him and my partner picked him up and stood him on his feet, he shook his head and was fine. The vet came but could find nothing wrong with him - said maybe it was some kind of a fit.
The next time he was found flat out in the field we got him up but he couldn't stay up, everytime we put him back on his feet he would collapse again. The vet this time said that it was a problem at his poll with the nerves on the left side of his neck. At this point we gave the new owner her money back and brought him home.
Our own vet gave him an anti inflamatory and said that if it didnt
work then they would need to do xrays etc to find the source of the problem. He went as far as to say that the micro chip couldn't possibly have caused this kind of injury but that when Jack pulled back when he was injecting it (I was holding him and I would say he flinched rather than pulled back) he may have caused himself to worsen an underlying fault that was caused by 'bad breeding'. (He was not badly bred both sire and dam were of quality stock with proven bloodlines but all the same it is possible genetics may have played a nasty trick on us. )
Jack went down hill unbelievably quickly after this, we lived in fear of finding him flat out with his head in a water bucket or some other such disaster and the pony seemed to be in pain and uncomfortable all the time. The anti inflamatory did not seem to work and we were seriously considering ending his suffering. We did not need to - on Sunday 14 November 2010 we found Jack dead in his stable.
Jack was a perfectly happy, healthy miniature shetland who died a painful, traumatic death at the age of 6 months. We can never prove that micro chipping was the cause but even if it wasn't it was most definately the trigger.
Sorry this is so long but thank you for taking the time to get this far.
Anyway I just wanted to share Jack's story with you and ask you please to consider it if you ever have the opportunity to stand up against this micro chipping policy.
This year we had three successful foals and about a month ago they were microchipped. Before being weaned they had lived in a herd of 10 ponies and were all perfectly happy and healthy ponies. We brought them in for weaning and then about 3 weeks later called the vet to have them microchipped. They seemed fine immediately after the micro chip was done.
Two days later we went to take the smallest of the three Jack to his new home (a field just 5 minutes walk from ours) but he wasn't right - his back legs were stiff and he looked a bit lame. Needless to say he didn't go to his new home that day but he improved quickly and we came to the conclusion that he had been playing a little rough with his little friend. About four days later he went off to his new home perfectly happy and healthy it seemed. Only a couple of days later his new owner rang in a panic to say that Jack had fallen over in the field and couldn't get up. We went to see him and my partner picked him up and stood him on his feet, he shook his head and was fine. The vet came but could find nothing wrong with him - said maybe it was some kind of a fit.
The next time he was found flat out in the field we got him up but he couldn't stay up, everytime we put him back on his feet he would collapse again. The vet this time said that it was a problem at his poll with the nerves on the left side of his neck. At this point we gave the new owner her money back and brought him home.
Our own vet gave him an anti inflamatory and said that if it didnt
work then they would need to do xrays etc to find the source of the problem. He went as far as to say that the micro chip couldn't possibly have caused this kind of injury but that when Jack pulled back when he was injecting it (I was holding him and I would say he flinched rather than pulled back) he may have caused himself to worsen an underlying fault that was caused by 'bad breeding'. (He was not badly bred both sire and dam were of quality stock with proven bloodlines but all the same it is possible genetics may have played a nasty trick on us. )
Jack went down hill unbelievably quickly after this, we lived in fear of finding him flat out with his head in a water bucket or some other such disaster and the pony seemed to be in pain and uncomfortable all the time. The anti inflamatory did not seem to work and we were seriously considering ending his suffering. We did not need to - on Sunday 14 November 2010 we found Jack dead in his stable.
Jack was a perfectly happy, healthy miniature shetland who died a painful, traumatic death at the age of 6 months. We can never prove that micro chipping was the cause but even if it wasn't it was most definately the trigger.
Sorry this is so long but thank you for taking the time to get this far.
