A herd of 10 ponies paid a surprise visit to a Peterborough housing estate after escaping from their field on Saturday morning (1 July).
The RSCPA believes someone may have opened the gate deliberately.
Officers from Cambridgeshire Police, RSPCA inspector Jason Stubbs and volunteers from Fenland Animal Rescue rounded up the ponies and safely returned them to their field.
“We believe someone opened the gate and released the horses during the night,” said Inspector Stubbs.
“To do something so foolish, probably as a joke, is extremely careless and irresponsible.
“These horses could have easily strayed onto a busy road and been hurt or killed if involved in an accident. This also put the lives of drivers at risk.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to contact the owner but, luckily, between all of us, we were able to round them up and walk the ponies the half a mile through the housing estate and back to their field.”
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The ponies, who were mostly small cob-types, were unharmed and locked back into their paddock.
Inspector Stubbs thanked everyone who helped with the round-up.
“This incident could have been much more serious had the herd made their way on to any main roads or into the path of traffic,” he said.
“I’d like to remind anyone who thinks it is a funny idea to release horses or livestock from their field of the very serious ramifications that silly split-second decision could have.”
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