Bell Island pony needs new home for the winter

If you go for a drive on Bell Island, you might see Bud the pony grazing in a pasture near the roadside.

He's a short, rust-coloured, Shetland Welsh pony, with one eye brown and the other a piercing blue.

But despite his good looks, Bud has some bad luck.

Heather Ballard is with Rescue NL, a group that helps animals in crisis or distress. She says Bud's problems begin with a genetic condition.

"He has a special condition called cryptorchidism, which means one of his testicles is dropped and one isn't." Ballard says. "So that makes him special because he can't be placed just anywhere."

Right now, Bud urgently needs a new home. Ballard says his owner can no longer care for him. Bud is currently living in a pasture, and he can't stay there much longer. The winter weather is approaching fast.

Ballard says Bud's condition is making it hard to find a foster home. "He needs to go to a place where there's no other studs and no mares, because obviously we don't want him to reproduce. His condition is supposed to be genetic so obviously we wouldn't want to pass that on." she said.

Many people who would normally be willing to foster a pony have studs or mares of their own. So Rescue NL is making a public plea.

"Right now we're looking for a foster home that would include a separate stall and a separate turnout." said Ballard. "He can be with geldings, just not studs or mares. So that's what we need, immediately if we can, the faster the better. Even in the next few days, if we can find a place by this weekend it would be fantastic."

Bud's housing issues could be solved by gelding, but his condition makes it a risky procedure. This province has no hospital for large animals, but the surgery is performed at the Atlantic Veterinary College in PEI. Rescue NL is planning to fundraise, but first needs to find Bud shelter for the winter.

"Bud's a really sweet horse, so I think that anyonethat's a horse person would be fine with him, Ballard said.

"We're just looking for someone to love him and feed him, basically make sure he's healthy and taken care of."

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