Terrified pony callously dumped in school playground by travellers finds food and shelter thanks to The Sun
The Sun stepped in after the RSPCA failed to find the pony a new home
STEVIE the bedraggled pony abandoned by travellers when they invaded a school was safe in a warm stable last night - thanks to The Sun.
A team of cops and bailiffs were involved in a tense four-hour eviction stand off after 20 caravans pitched up on the school car park over half term.
Nearly a thousand pupils missed lessons at the Shenley Academy in Birmingham on Monday before the travellers finally agreed to leave.
Staff at the school took pity on the horse they christened Stevie and moved him to a grassy bank.
But calls from teachers at the academy to police and the RSPCA to find him a new home failed.
And pitiful Stevie faced the prospect of another night out in bitterly cold rain - until The Sun stepped in.
We arranged for a horse sanctuary to pick up the brown-and-white pony and for a vet to remove a too-tight collar he was wearing which meant he was in pain and unable to eat properly.
We also forked out for as much hay and treats he could scoff.
Last night yearling Stevie was recovering in a cosy straw-filled stable at the rescue centre which will now try and find him a permanent home.
Stevie was nervous at first and shied away from stable girl Louise Yates,26.
But he was soon munching down handfuls of carrots and apples as she lovingly stroked his neck.
The woman owner of the sanctuary picked up Stevie in a horse box on Monday night and took him to her centre to spend probably his first ever night under cover.
Related stories
The horse expert who asked for the location of her stables not to be revealed said:"The first job was to remove a far too small head collar from around his nose.
"It was nylon and cutting in to his muzzle and would have prevented him eating and swallowing properly because of the pressure.
"It had started to cut into his skin and the vet has to treat it."
"It would have been painful for him being pulled along by the collar.
"He was very nervous about human contact and was hungry after being tied up at the school all day.
"But now he is feeding well and will soon get up to a decent weight."
She added:"It was probably his first night spent in a stable when we got him back.
"If this pony could talk he would definitely say 'Thank you my Sun'"
Horse lover Louise added:"He's absolutely gorgeous.
"How anyone could abandon a poor little pony like him is a disgrace."
Academy principal Lucy Monk,whose school returned to normal yesterday after the traveller fiasco said:"We can't thank the Sun enough.
"We are chuffed to bits the pony is safe and well and being cared for.
"I spoke to the travellers before they left and asked them what they were going to do with the pony as it seemed they were just going to leave him tied to a gate near the playground."
"They said they would definitely be coming back for him but that just wasn't the case and my staff and pupils were very worried about him.
"The travellers did take a horse coat off his back before they left him and he wasn't in the best of condition.
"But now we are all thrilled he is in good hands."
An RSPCA spokesman said: "We would like to thank the person who called us about Stevie. We would like to reassure the public we were working to help him but we have to follow a strict legal process and the owner must be given 96 hours to reclaim their horse - otherwise we could be accused of theft.
"Councils have recently been given new powers to act quickly in situations such as this where a horse has been left on someone else’s land without permission.
"The RSPCA and other charities are struggling to cope with the current horse crisis where large numbers of horses are being dumped dead and dying or simply abandoned.
"Last year (2016) we took in 836 abandoned, neglected or cruelly treated horses - an average of two every single day."