Elf Meets ELF! Happy Ending for Abused Shetland Pony?

Elf, the Shetland Pony that was dragged behind a car on Christmas day and suffered horrific injuries to his legs and hooves, is hopefully on the road to a full recovery.

Named Elf by RSPCA staff after he was brought to RSPCA's Fairfield Shelter by Inspector Tom Barrett, he has been receiving specialised treatment at Redlands Equine Veterinary Clinic for over two weeks. Equine Centre vets and RSPCA Qld vets feel that he is healing well, although he still may have to have another operation to remove fragments of bone from his hoof.

“In over 40 years as an equine veterinarian, I believe Elf  is the toughest little horse I have seen,” said Dr David Lovell. “He arrived with four different problems, any one of which, in another horse, could well have been enough to bring about their demise. Not Elf! He had severe shock, abrasion wounds to eight different joints that had gone through skin and joint capsule and exposed the actual joints. Plus, worst of all, the soles of both hind feet had been ground bare and he’d developed a terrible case of laminitis. Unbelievably, all conditions have dramatically improved and Elf should be able to anticipate many years of happy healthy life.”

Elf will temporarily go into Foster Care with a charity called…wait for it… ELF! (Equine Learning for Futures), which develops and implements equine based educational programs for disadvantaged youth and children. The charity uses horses in the in the learning process to facilitate change, positive personal growth and promote positive self esteem.

“Learning to work effectively with a flight animal takes effort and personal responsibility but the rewards are empowerment and an ability to make healthy behaviour and hence life choices,” said ELF founder Jill Strachan.

“We’re hoping to adopt Elf permanently. Eventually he’ll be taking part in the training programs but until he recovers completely he’ll be staying at my property where he’ll be stable mates with a 17 hand thoroughbred.”

“If all goes well this could be a perfect life for Elf,” said RSPCA Qld Senior Veterinarian Dr Anne Chester. “After all he’s been through, we’re all praying that this really will turn out to be the ultimate happy ending.”

Unfortunately there is still a chance that Elf’s future may ultimately be decided in court.

UPDATE:

Elf has struck up a great friendship with 17HH thoroughbred stable mate, Seqsea George!