Where is Owner of Well-Cared-For, Pretty Pony?
THURSDAY, Dec. 4, 2014 – It's not too often a small horse will end up in one of Riverside County Animal Services' shelters. And, when horses do end up at the shelter, the horse is usually in poor condition and was likely abandoned by its owner.
That's not the case of a 16-year-old Shetland pony that was picked up from a Jurupa Valley property last week, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. She had a halter on and someone had braided her mane.
The pony had been corralled, so to speak, by a county sheriff's deputy. Apparently, it was wandering in the early- morning hours along Galena Street at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The deputy was able to get the pony off Galena and into an open yard in the 8400 block of that street. The family agreed to allow the animal to stay in the yard, shut their fence and waited for one of our animal control officers to show up with a truck and trailer.
"I was asleep and was wondering what was going on, then I discovered the horse in our yard," said Edith Hernandez, whose mother interacted with the sheriff's deputy. It was Edith that stayed at home, waiting for the animal control officer to come pick up the horse.
"It's funny," she said, "A lot of animals seem to come into our yard."
The strange part of the story is that no one has come to visit the shelter to claim the pet. The pony was very well cared for and super friendly. "This pony was well loved, and that's why we're all wondering, 'Where's the owner?' " said Frank Corvino, a county deputy director who oversees the Field & Shelter Services Division.
It's quite possible that the owner of the pony may not realize their horse is at the county's main shelter, located at 6851 Van Buren Blvd. in the city of Jurupa Valley. Recently, a tortoise was impounded at the shelter and remained in the county's care for more than two weeks. The tortoise was going to be transferred to a rescue group but the owner turned up just in the nick of time to claim his pet. He had posted fliers all around his neighborhood, he had told shelter employees, but didn't realize his pet was waiting for him at the shelter.
Another theory about the pony is that the owner may think that someone stole their pet and possibly gave up hope.
Anyone who might know who owns the horse, is welcome to call the county at 951-358-PETS (7387) or e-mail us at [email protected]
