Cliff dump: Man to be charged over deaths of 25 ponies
- news.com.au
- December 23, 2011
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A man will face court over the deaths of 25 ponies found dumped near a cliff in NSW. Picture: Supplied
A MAN who stuffed 35 ponies into a poorly ventilated truck, leading to the deaths of 25 of them, will face court next year.
The ponies were found dumped at the bottom of a cliff last Saturday after a tip-off led police to a truck parking bay near Glen Innes, NSW.
Officers followed tracks to the cliff where they discovered the bodies of 25 dead ponies "in the early stages of decomposition".
At the time police said there were no obvious wounds, tags, brands, or other identifying marks on the animals to help police find their owner or indicate the cause of their death.
"It's a very strange case," Inspector Rod Shoesmith said. "They appeared fit, not starving, and it doesn't look like they have been shot."
An investigation has since concluded that 35 ponies were loaded into a removalist truck to head to the state's north coast.
It is believed that the ponies asphyxiated due to inadequate ventilation inside the truck.
Police interviewed a 39-year-old Pottsville man at his home yesterday and issued him with a Future Court Attendance Notice for 25 counts of committing an act of aggravated cruelty upon an animal.
He will appear in Glen Innes Local Court on Tuesday 14 February 2012.
Two ponies survived the journey and have since been inspected by police in the northern part of the state.
Inquiries are continuing about the other eight outstanding ponies.
