Pony hurt in fireworks panic
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Feilding Herald
Maria Bycroft knows first hand what havoc can be caused by fireworks.
On Friday night one of the three horses she keeps on a farm near Opiki was badly injured after being scared by fireworks and at one stage it seemed she may have to be destroyed.
Shilo has only been with the family about 12 months, but has rapidly become a loved pet.
The family bought the pony via Trade Me from an animal rescue organisation in Tauranga. Shilo had been mistreated as a youngster and was scared of many people, particularly men.
"When we got her the kids couldn't put a bridle on her but in the last few months she's been going really well. We've done all this work and she showed a lot of promise. She's a great little pony. It just seems so cruel."
Shilo suffered a severed tendon and a deep cut on her near hind leg which has gone through to the bone. The injuries are thought to have been caused when Shilo was panicked by a neighbour's fireworks on Friday night and got tangled in a fence she tried to jump.
She wasn't found until Saturday morning. A vet confirmed a tendon had been severed.
"He said the Massey vet clinic may be able to reattach the tendon, but there's no guarantee. I can nurse her back to health. It's whether she can learn to walk again."
Shilo will be remembered by many people who enjoyed rides on her at the last month's Bunnythorpe School Gala.
"A lot of kids had a really good time on her," Mrs Bycroft said.
She intends to advise the school about Shilo's injuries and make the children aware of the dangers of fireworks.
"I want to make an example of this. We hadn't even thought about it being Guy Fawkes. If we had, we could have put the horses in the stables where they would have been safe."
Her two daughters, Shayna and Karla, are devastated.
- © Fairfax NZ News
