Dartmoor ponies may be shot as prices fall to 1 a head

30 September 1998

Dartmoor ponies may be shot as prices fall to £1 a head

DARTMOOR farmers warn they may have to shoot hundreds of ponies that roam free on the moorland because of a collapse in the market for the animals.

Prices have in retreat for several years, since public pressure forced the end of the export trade of the animals for human consumption. Farmers fear ponies may fetch just £1 a head.

The first big pony auction of the year this week at Tavistock, Devon, is expected to give some guide to prices.

There were an estimated 50,000 ponies in the 1940s. Now there are about 3000.

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  The Guardian 30/09/98 page 7