whats the law on abandoned ponies without passports?

[aintgotnohay]

shetland pony has been abandoned in field -the landowner cannot trace the 'owners' and hasnt got the ponies passport.he wants the pony gone as been there 3 months.this is all the information i have.please help if you can.this thread was posted on F/B.

Can the landowner just sell or give the pony away? Or do the authorities like welfare and rspca need to be involved??

 

[Mare Stare]

I had a similar problem and was advised by the BHS legal line to put an abandonment notice on the gate. There's one here:

http://www.redwings.org.uk/documents/Abandonmen1_2_.pdf

The horse was promptly moved.

Apparently though, its not as simple as it seems. You have to go to court to claim the pony as yours after the 14 days are up.

Trading standards may be interested if the pony hasn't got a passport. They have the power to remove the pony if they see fit too. The RSPCA probably won't be interested.