A child’s pony had to be euthanized after it was gravely injured when the pony wandered into a live trap on a neighboring property on the Southside.

According to a press release by the RCMP, on Oct 2 the Burns Lake RCMP received a report from the Southside where a pony was gravely injured. The owner feared that the animal was intentionally injured and wanted the police to look in to the matter.

After a thorough investigation, the RCMP discovered that the pony had wandered on to the neighboring property and became tangled in to a live trap. The pony was further accidentally injured during the attempt to free the pony by cutting the rope it was caught in. After this, when the pony went back to the owner’s home, there was nothing that could be done to help the animal and he had to be euthanized.

The Burns Lake RCMP have determined that there was no criminal intent behind the incident, after completing their investigation that included taking statements. The release also stated that the person who tried to free the animal is very remorseful and apologetic. However, since the trap that caught the pony was made out of illegal material, the person was fined under the Wildlife Act Regulations.

“It was an unfortunate accident and in our opinion, the individual has been dealt with, within the confines of the law,” said Burns Lake RCMP Staff Sergeant Shaunna Lewis adding that she could understand how much the family was traumatized by the incident as animals, “especially a little boy’s pony is such a huge part of the family and it is loss of a loved one.”

The incident sparked a social media outrage and speculations, over the incident and Lewis told Lakes District News that the RCMP had been investigating the uttering of threats, and had discussions with the people who were involved with that. She also said that they were monitoring activities closely.

“Let’s hope it does not escalate. In my opinion, it is very concerning that social media is being used to list out the fears and angers of the people who don’t have the complete understanding of what the facts are in the matter,” she said.

Lewis is also urging the public to come forward in case they have any further information regarding a criminal offense in this matter or others.

“Please come forward to the local RCMP or to Crime Stoppers; we have to work together to keep everybody safe,” she said.

If you have any information about this, contact the Burns Lake RCMP at (250) 692-7171 or contact Crime Stoppers at 1(800) 222-8477.

Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar

priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net

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