As protection is sought for the small number of this special breed still remaining, there’s a bit of a squabble developing over just who’s protection is better, a federal or a provincial one.
The small but hardy Newfoundland pony (11-14 hands-112-147cm) was originally brought to the island by the earliest settlers who brought various pony breeds with them from Scotland, Ireland and England. The interbred result has evolved into a distinct breed.
They were initially used as a draught animal for ploughig and hauling everything and anything. Until roughly the 1960’s there were several thousand in Newfoundland, but with the advent of snowmobiles and ATV’s, the numbers dwindled drastically, often being sold off-island to slaughtering houses.
In 1980 a group was formed on the island to save the breed from extinction and gathered about 300 remaining animals. Through their efforts the government of Newfoundland and Labrador passed the Heritage Animal Act in 1997 and declared it a heritage animal, the first and only so far in the province.
Initially there was a push to have the breed registered and protected under federal jurisdiction, coming in part from Newfoundland pony owners and breeders outside the province, but pony preservations in Newfoundland are against that.
They say it has the potential to lessen the protection the animals now have under provincial legislation, and could even lead to interbreeding with other horses and a loss of heritage status.
Jack Harris, who as a provincial politician in Newfoundland, pushed to have the pony protected under provincial legislation, believes handing over control to federal agencies would be a big mistake. He says the federal act is meant for farm stock and breeding animals, and could signal a return to the days when the ponies were moved out of the province on meat trucks.
“There is a real fear that the Newfoundland Pony, as it is, would be lost and a new pony would be created … like the Newfoundland dog which is Newfoundland only in name,” said Harris, who’s a pony owner and also on the board of the Newfoundland Pony Society.
The Newfoundland Pony Society has since assessed the process of registering the pony under the federal act, and is recommending the idea be scrapped.
The final decision on whether to transfer control of the Newfoundland Pony to the feds rests with the provincial government.
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