Return to use of pit ponies feared

Jan 1 2008 by Rhodri Clark, Western Mail

ANIMAL welfare campaigners are lobbying for a ban on pit ponies because they fear the high price of coal could see horses working underground again.

Their campaign appeared to have met with some success last night as Assembly Government officials confirmed they were looking for ways to ensure the animals would no longer be used underground.

Wales has a long history of using horses to haul coal wagons, because they avoided the cost of expensive machinery for owners of small mines.

Pit ponies fell out of use in Wales with mine closures in the 1990s, but since then the price of coal has risen.

Managers of a pit-pony sanctuary near Pontypridd believe entrepreneurs will open new mines or reopen old ones.

But they say investors will be wary after losing money on coal in the 1990s, leaving the new operators short of capital.

Pit ponies would greatly reduce the start-up costs, said Roy Peckham, of the Fforest Uchaf Horse and Pony Rehabilitation Centre.

His centre is pressing for a pit-pony ban under the new Animal Welfare Act. But he claimed the authorities were reluctant to make such a move in case it led to pressure for restrictions on other working horses, including racehorses.

“When the last two working pit ponies finished in 1999, house coal cost the merchants £25 a tonne at the pithead,” he said.

“That same coal now costs £130 a tonne. There’s high demand for coal and lots of new collieries and investments are planned.

“It seems logical to me that it’s only a matter of time before an old mine reopens or a new pony-powered mine opens.”

In 1998 his centre had obtained an estimate of the cost of machinery to replace the resident pony at a small mine.

“The estimate was £57,000. You could probably double that today. You can buy a good ride-and-drive pony from some people for under £1,000.”

The sanctuary, started in 1988, now has seven former pit ponies. Most suffer lung problems caused by inhaling colliery dust.

“There was no protection for their hearing. Most of them are deaf, or nearly deaf, because of the machinery and explosions.

“We’ve had a lot of pit ponies with eye problems. The tears mixed with coal dust and when they blinked it was like rubbing sandpaper over the eye.

“A lot of ponies lost eyes by walking into things, because it was pitch black underground.

“They’ve got bad joints from the amount of work they did. They didn’t have bedding in their shed or stable because it was a fire hazard.”

He said there was no way to ensure adequate protection for future pit ponies. His sanctuary, a registered charity, has called for pit ponies to be outlawed in its response to a Welsh Assembly Government consultation on a new code of equine welfare, which will determine how the Animal Welfare Act is implemented in practice.

But an Assembly Government spokesman last night confirmed ministers were attempting to address concerns over the possible future use of pit ponies.

He said, “Following the implementation of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in March of 2007, a programme of action was set out covering animal welfare issues in Wales. One of the issues for consideration was the use of pit ponies, but their use is covered by the Coal and Other Mines (Horses) Order 1956. We are currently examining the whole issue for a way forward to ensure that ponies are not used in mines.”

Prof Brian Morgan, professor of entrepreneurship at Uwic in Cardiff, said there was no need for any further legislation, since pit ponies were protected under existing laws covering working animals.

“People don’t perhaps realise that by the 1970s pit ponies were looked after amazingly well. You have to go back to when human beings in mines were treated badly to find a time when horses were treated badly.

“A colleague of mine worked in a small mine down in the west. His view is that the horses were better looked after than the men.”

Prof Morgan, a miner’s son, was not convinced new mines would opt for pit ponies. “The biggest capital investment for drift mines is making sure the tunnel roof and the face are held up. They would also need machines to cut the coal.

“The capital investment to bring the coal out is a minor part of it. All you would need is a small diesel engine outside, with a big steel rope to pull the dram out.”

He also doubted whether many small mines would open, because power stations and other major consumers would want large volumes of blended and washed coal.