Probe into death of horse in Westside

ANIMAL welfare authorities are investigating the death of a pony on a Westside croft following reports from the public.

The Scottish SSPCA are “investigating” the incident and said that they visited the property in February when horses were found to be in “reasonable condition”.

Pictures of the dead horse, said to belong to a Shetland pony breeder, were posted on Facebook by an angry resident whose post resulted in replies calling for the owner to be banned from keeping animals.

Scottish SPCA chief inspector Alison Simpson said: “We attended the property in February and inspected all of the horses. At this time the horses were found to be in a reasonable condition and the owner assured us they were providing supplementary feed.

“Sadly, we received a report to our animal helpline on 3 April alerting us to a deceased Shetland pony in the field.

“We are working closely with the local authority’s environmental health team and the owner to ensure the welfare of the remaining animals at the property.”

“As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment any further at this time.”

A spokesman for Shetland Islands Council confirmed that the environmental health department was undertaking a joint investigation with the SSPCA.