ljlosite, wild Assa­ o:eague Island are driven BEH across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague during the annual penning, held in July. • left, two men attempt to CHIN cool off a Chincoteague • mare that collapsed during 1989 pony pen­ ning activities. Despite such efforts, the pony later died.

here were about 40 to 50 into a sweat. I started asking people for ganized rescue effort, he was forced to ad­ mares make the swim to freedom on in the pen. They all looked very their ice-coolers, but nobody wanted to minister treatment to the dying animal in Friday. stressed," recalled Jan Spink, give them up. I emptied the sodas out of 102 degree heat in the back of the It's not only the festivities associated with Ta therapeutic riding instructor mine and began to pack ice around the trailer. , but also the complaints The from central . Ms. Spink mare." Not surprisingly, these efforts were as HSUS receives each year that have become was on her way to the beach when she stop­ The fire company maintains a veter­ futile as they were heroic. Adequate part of the annual tradition. For more than ped to observe pony-handling procedures inarian of record for the ponies, and he was veterinary care came too late for that pony, two decades, HSUS investigators have mon­ during Chincoteague's annual pony­ at his office some twenty miles away. When just as it did for another 5 mares that have itored Chincoteague's roundup, document­ penning roundup. "Then I noticed that he was radioed for assistance, said Ms. died in the last two years-the victims ing a multitude of abuses ranging from the 1 mare was down," she con­ of Chincoteague's famous pony sale of day-old foals and the manhandling tinued. "She wasn't looking penning. of newborns to the shipment of newly pur­ right. chased ponies-their legs tied tightly to­ "I went to the firemen [who Fire Company gether-in the backseats ofVolkswagons and sponsor the roundup]; there $40,000, Ponies $0 jeeps. "Wild-pony rides," in which mares, were about a dozen of them Each year, during the last just separated from their foals, are forced standing around. None of them week in July, the tiny island to endure bronc riding by local cow­ had noticed the pony, so I town of Chincoteague, Vir­ boy-types, are also part of the show. pointed her out and said that ginia, is thrust into the national While negotiations with the fire company she was in severe distress and spotlight as tens of thousands have resulted in some improvements (com­ needed a vet immediately. of spectators converge to par­ pany officials no longer sell day-old foals, "I watched for about ten ticipate in pony-penning transportation standards have been up­ minutes, assuming the fire events. Scores of newborn graded, and foal-care packets are distributed company had a competent foals, mistakenly thought to be to buyers by The HSUS and the American system in place for veterinary descended from ponies swept Horse Protection Association), problems emergencies. I assumed that overboard from a Spanish ship I continue to plague the operation, the result everybody was running to get 350 years ago, are auctioned to of the expedient and highly stressful fashion things for the mare. I assumed bidders in a time-honored tra­ in which the herd is handled and managed. wrong. Nobody seemed to ~~--____j'- dition that dates back sixty­ I Impulse buying by spectators with no be doing anything to help her, four years. knowledge of the specialized care horses re­ and valuable time was being wasted. Spink, "He told us he had a parking lot full , a thirty-seven-mile • owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire coffers. Despite the record take, most of the quire is common. "I finally said, 'You've got to get a vet!' of clients and couldn't be disturbed. 'We spit off the /Virginia shore, is the Company. Each year, that organization pays monies raised during pony penning come They said, 'We tried. No vet will come.' " have a pony that's going into deep shock,' home to roughly 300 wild ponies-animals $180 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not from the sale of ponies but rather from 1988: Four Mares Collapse The next thing Jan Spink knew was that we said. He said he wouldn't refuse treat­ that have made the successful transition to (FWS) and is granted a special-use permit the booming tourist trade that accompanies Last summer, a new threat to resident fire company officials were bringing a ment if the mare was brought to his office." life in a marine environment. These hardy to graze its ponies on the federal refuge. As the event. ponies surfaced when, shortly after round­ respiratory therapist to the corral site. Eventually, the animal, unable even to horses live in an exceedingly hostile I long as the ponies do not pose a threat to Pony penning gets underway Sunday, as up on Chincoteague NWR, several mares "Outside of myself, she was the only per­ move its legs or hold its head up, was habitat, enduring everything from the island's unique ecology, the FWS toler­ firemen on horseback begin to round up and became gravely ill and lapsed into shock. son with any knowledge of horses," Ms. dragged into a horse trailer and carted away. temperature extremes to heavy mosquito ates their presence and enjoys the added at­ corral the refuge's ponies, separating the It would be weeks before autopsies revealed Spink explained. "But even she was stand­ "I thought they were taking her to a vet," and tick infestations. Consuming a variety traction they represent to refuge visitors. from mares and foals. On Wednes­ that, in the frenzy of the roundup, the ponies ing there in confusion, telling the crowd the said Jan Spink, "but they took her to a of grasses in Assateague's marshlands, the In what is billed as a management tool day, with crowds of spectators lining the had consumed island vegetation toxic to pony was about to give birth." The pony shady area of the carnival grounds." (A sec­ ponies manage to flush the excess salt from necessary to thin the Chincoteague herd, banks, mares and foals are forced to swim their systems, vegetation that would ulti­ wasn't even pregnant. "Meanwhile, the ond veterinarian, contacted by phone, had their systems by drinking the fresh water each year, the fire company sells off most across a channel separating Assateague Is­ mately cause cyanide poisoning in the pony was overheating in the direct sunlight, suggested that she be taken to a shady place they find in rain puddles and springs. of the herd's newborn foals, a tradition that, land and the refuge from the seaside town mares. and nobody was doing anything. That's and given some water.) When the pony A herd of about 150 ponies inhabits the twenty years ago, brought the fire company of Chincoteague. Once they reach the op­ Although the pony deaths were kept when I finally jumped the fence." failed to rally, it was trucked north to the Virginia lower third of Assateague Island, a few thousand dollars, but, today, has be­ posite bank, the ponies are given a short under tight wraps by the fire company, in­ Ms. Spink began directing efforts to save Virginia/ Maryland line where a third living quietly in the salt marshes of the come a much more lucrative event. This rest, then herded down Main Street to Chin­ formation about the tragedy was leaked to the dying animal. "I was furious that they veterinarian, licensed to practice only in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge year, with a total of 77 foals selling for an coteague's carnival grounds. Thursday The HSUS by an anonymous phone caller. hadn't done anything until I mobilized Maryland, agreed to meet and treat the (NWR). Although they are described as average of $600 a piece, pony penning morning, foals are taken from their mothers An HSUS investigation during pony pen­ them. By this time, the pony had broken animal. Deeply disturbed over the disor- "wild," these 150 ponies are actually added a whopping $40,000 to the firemen's and auctioned off to spectators; foal-less ning revealed that 4 mares had died, and,

14 HSUS NEWS • Fall 1989 HSUS NEWS • Fall 1989 15 ight, a Chinco­ Rteague pony is examined for pur­ Chincoteague's ponies. "My proposal here by imposing a stiff fine and making it clear chase. Below, four men may seem ambitious, but I believe it can be that the company's expedient treatment of hoist a newly purchased carried out in a commonsense manner. ponies for profit will no longer be tolerated. into Hopefully, these changes could lead to bet­ After all, any organization that netted a horse trailer. The ter husbandry... and stop the death losses in $40,000 from the sale of foals that inhabit HSUS has found, in the the pony population with its attendant bad a taxpayer-funded refuge can certainly af­ past, that many such publicity." ford to pay a fine for its negligent actions purchases are made on John Schroer has vowed to add new stip­ affecting its stock. In addition to a fine, ex­ impulse by people inex­ ulations to next year's grazing permit, re­ plain that, if the FWS does not intend to perienced in caring for quiring a veterinarian to "check in" with the revoke the fire company's grazing permit, wild horses. FWS each day of pony penning. This year, you wish to see the fire company put on pro­ however, in an effort to prevent negative at­ bationary status. You might mention that the tention from being drawn to the refuge, the only negative publicity you foresee from this FWS has decided not to impose any penal­ incident would result from the FWS's deci­ unknown to the public, been quietly dis­ ties on the fire company; the company's per­ sion not to hold the fire company accoun­ posed of at the north end of the refuge. mit will not be revoked or suspended nor table for what is a clear violation of its When the first 2 ponies collapsed, no will fire officials be fined for their flagrant special-use permit. veterinarian was present, and the fire com­ violation of their special-use permit. For this Write: The Honorable Constance B. Har­ pany made no attempt to obtain the services reason, we urge our members to write the riman, Assistant Secretary for Fish and of one. Interior Department's Assistant Secretary Wildlife and Parks, Department of the In­ "The horses' jaws became locked, they for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, with a copy terior, 18th and C Streets, NW, Washington, couldn't stand up, and they were burning to Chincoteague NWR Manager Schroer, DC 20240 and Mr. John Schroer, Refuge up," recalled a former FWS employee. "I demanding that the FWS take strong Manager, Chincoteague NWR, P.O. Box 62, phoned the fire company's veterinarian at disciplinary action against the fire company Chincoteague, VA 23336. • his office but he said he was tied up in surgery and couldn't come." The FWS employee spent four long hours on the phone trying to locate a veterinarian who WHAT'S A CHINCOTEAGUE PONY? would come to examine 2 more mares that had gone down in the interim. By the time she located one, rescue efforts were futile; No one really knows where Chin­ buyers shell out hundreds of dollars for so­ all 4 animals eventually died what were coteague ponies came from or how they called Chincoteague ponies. Such foals are described a~ very painful deaths. (The came to dwell on Assateague Island. While often in extremely poor condition at the veterinarian who later performed autopsies wild, the ponies would not have eaten the and left to die. There have also been allega­ "After last year's deaths, we find it inex­ legend has it that they were descended time of sale. on 2 of the mares explained that, in the toxic vegetation, consuming primarily island tions of kickings and drownings of disabled cusable that the fire company did not make from the survivors of a sixteenth-century "I saw the foal two weeks after it was grasses. When forced into the extremely horses as well. arrangements to have a veterinarian present shipwreck, some scientists believe that the brought back from the island," recalled a stressful conditions of the roundup, however, As a result of last year's deaths, The at [July's] events," explained HSUS Presi­ ponies actually descend from stock of Virginia veterinarian in a recent letter to they apparently did so, with fatal HSUS requested that the FWS include a dent John A. Hoyt in a recent letter to Chin­ early colonists who permitted their The HSUS. He described the fulling health consequences.) special provision in the fire company's graz­ coteague NWR Manager John Schroer. animals to roam freely about the island. of a two-month-old foal that was anemic, "The HSUS finds it inconceivable that the ing permit requiring that an on-site licensed Even more disturbing, Mr. Hoyt explained, Whatever their origin, one fuct remains: thin, and would not eat. The veterinarian FWS was left to bear the responsibility of veterinarian be present during the entire was the fact that after the death of the first Chincoteague ponies are not the treated the pony with vitamin supplements, locating a veterinarian for the ponies in a pony-penning operation. Last November, mare this year, still no significant effort was purebreds-with bloodlines dating back antibiotics, and intravenous fluids, but its time of dire need, when corralled mares we received word from the FWS that our made by fire company officials to obtain the 350 years-that the public has been led to condition only grew worse. "Despite three were mysteriously dying and no veterinarian request had been approved and a special services of a veterinarian. Mr. Hoyt urged believe. In fuct, time and again, off-island to four days of intensive care," the was available to examine the herd," said condition had been inserted into the fire the refuge manager to take strong disci­ blood has been introduced to the herd. veterinarian reported, "the foal died." HSUS Investigator Gail Eisnitz in a letter company's permit. It was a small step, but plinary action against the fire company for Reports from the early 1900s tell us that Weaned too early, subjected to transport to the FWS last year. "The fact that a FWS we were delighted to know that, after sixty­ the blatant violation of its grazing permit. Shetland ponies were imported to the stress, and in poor nutritional shape, the employee spent four hours on the telephone three years, the fire company would at last "This is the second successive year that island and subsequently bred with resident foal had three strikes against it before it in a frantic attempt to locate veterinary be held accountable in some fashion for the we have autopsied ponies lost due to stress­ stock. As recently as 1962, when half the even arrived at the buyer's farm. assistance is a clear indication of the fire welfare of its ponies, even if only during related activities," wrote Dr. Ralph C. herd was swept to sea in a devastating Chincoteague ponies, often also suffer­ company's indifference to the welfare of its pony-penning week. Knowles, the Maryland Department of Ag­ storm, outside stock was introduced to ing from internal and external parasites, stock." riculture veterinarian with whom 3 of the help replenish the herd. In recent years, have developed unique adaptions to the Additional investigation by The HSUS 1989: Two Mares Die 6 dead ponies ultimately ended up. "It is new stud animals-particularly , marine environment and require months revealed that the fire company has no On the morning of July 27, 1989, one obvious that the husbandry and level of Spanish barbs, and Arabians-have been of special treatment and care after pur­ significant mechanism in place to monitor year to the day after the first two mares veterinary care have been inadequate dur­ imported by the fire company to upgrade chase. No matter how loving, owners are or care for injured or dying animals on died, Jan Spink tried to save 1 of 2 mares ing the last two roundups, pennings, and the herd and add new blood. (Why does seldom equipped to help a foal make the Chincoteague NWR year 'round. In fact, a that would die this year. Despite the 1988 auctions," he continued in a letter to the the fire company find it necessary to add difficult transition from rugged island life biologist who conducted extensive research tragedy, despite the stipulation in its graz­ Chincoteague refuge manager. Dr. Knowles horses to the herd, when the annual sale to pasture and stall. The HSUS can only on the refuge informed The HSUS that, in ing permit, the fire company again had not described the heavy infestation of ticks and is supposedly conducted to reduce the speculate on the numbers of newborn foals the past, when injured or ill animals were arranged to have a veterinarian on-site, nor internal parasites plaguing the ponies he number of ponies on the refuge?) that, despite the buyers' best intentions, brought to the fire company's attention, they could company officials locate one autopsied and suggested the establishment Each year, scores of unsuspecting meet pitiful deaths. • were simply dragged from public view anywhere. of a carefully planned program of care for

16 HSUS NEWS • Fall 1989 HSUS NEWS • Fall 1989 17