Swedish woman charged with cruelty for keeping pony in cellar
A Swedish woman has been charged with animal cruelty after housing a pony in her cellar.
The 32-year-old woman from Halland, west Sweden, has also been banned from keeping animals after pleading guilty to the charges.
Police found the pony peering through her cellar window when investigating an anonymous tip off last month.
On arrival they discovered the cellar was only 18 square metres and 178cm high. It also had exposed electrical wiring and contained the remains of a home distilling kit.
She told Varberg district court on Friday (13 March) that she had planned to sell the horse — which she had only owned for 14 days.
The court heard how the cellar floor was bare except for manure and the pony had just dirty water and no food.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.