A MAN will face court early next year in relation to the bizarre and grisly discovery of 25 dead ponies near Glen Innes last weekend.
According to police, shortly after 12.50pm last Saturday, officers from the New England Local Area Command received information regarding a high number of dead ponies in the Ben Lomond Range area near Glen Innes.
Officers patrolling an area off the New England Highway found clues to the remains in a truck parking bay about three kilometres south of Old Ben Lomond Rd – the officers followed tracks to a nearby cliff where they found the bodies of 25 dead ponies of various colours and ages and in the early stages of decomposition.
Police at the scene found no obvious indication of cause of death and no identifying marks or tags.
However following investigations, police will allege 35 ponies were transported by a removalist’s truck, loaded in the Kingstown area destined for the North Coast.
Police will allege the truck had inadequate ventilation which contributed to the deaths of 25 of the ponies.
While police found the remains of the 25 ponies, it is understood two survived the journey and officers are continuing their investigations into the whereabouts of the other eight.
About 4pm on Thursday a 39-year-old Pottsville man was interviewed by police at his home – he was issued with a court attendance notice for 25 counts of committing an act of aggravated cruelty upon an animal.
He will appear in Glen Innes Local Court on Tuesday, February 14 next year.
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