Crofter admits cruelty to Shetland ponies
A Shetland court has deferred sentence on a crofter who admitted three charges of cruelty to Shetland ponies.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) and police visited a field used by Tommy Jamieson, 43, of Walls, in February after reports of a dead pony lying there as well as seven other malnourished ponies.
Jamieson was told he must feed the ponies properly or they would die.
A few weeks later, the SSPCA was called about another pony which had been collected from Jamieson. The mare was emaciated, infested with lice and could not stand.
The pony, Judith, who is now on permanent loan, has recovered with specialist nursing care.
Tommy Allen, defending, said Jamieson’s family had been looking after Shetland ponies for three generations and pleaded for him to be allowed to keep the remaining five ponies.
He said the crofter had lost his job because of the court case.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Sheriff Graeme Napier will sentence Jamieson on Wednesday, 7 November.
A second crofter, Colin Robertson, 47, also of Walls, has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service, after admitting seven charges of cruelty to sheep and cattle.
This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (18 October, ’07)
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.