SWEP is increasingly concerned by the growing number of livestock deaths on Dartmoor’s roads and is campaigning for the fencing of the most dangerous sections of the the roads that cross Dartmoor.

We have joined other animal welfare organisations in supporting the campaign launched by our main regional newspaper to raise the awareness of motorists on the moors.

We also call on motorists involved in collisions with animals not to ignore the incident, but to report the accident to the police, local vet or one of the animal welfare groups such as SWEP

Aims

SWEP was formed due to the demand for a locally based society to follow up concerns about equine welfare, whether moorland, privately owned or abandoned. Enquiries and requests for help are received from members of the public and from other organisations. We have helped many horses and ponies and with your help will continue to do so.

SWEP is active in Devon and Cornwall and works in partnership with other organisations such as the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary (including Horsewatch), ILPH, DEFRA, Trading Standards animal welfare, local Commoners Associations, Dartmoor National Park as well as other animal welfare groups. We have worked for a number of years on Dartmoor, and more recently, on Bodmin Moor.

Funding

SWEP has a membership of approximately 200, with a team of mainly volunteers caring for rescued equines and organising fund raising activities and events.

We welcome donations from the public and businesses – see our Roll of Honour

Rescues

When an animal is rescued it is signed over to us on a legally binding contract and remains the property of SWEP for the remainder of its life.

All rescued equines that come into our care receive veterinary attention and any other help they require to make a full recovery – no matter how bad their original condition or how long their recovery takes.  Our policy is to help equines only in extreme cases of cruelty and suffering if there is no hope, we do euthanise to eliviate more suffering

Rehoming

When the animals are fit and well they are rehomed on a loan scheme. The loan home is inspected and the animal is signed over on a loan contract. The animal is checked twice year to ensure that the required standards are met.

Campaign Issues

One of SWEP’s aims is to encourage responsible ownership – this includes moorland equines as well as domestic horses and ponies.

Ownership of moorland ponies is often difficult to establish, allowing unscrupulous owners to escape their responsibilities.

SWEP is campaigning for a registration scheme for equines on common land. See the Hot Issues page for more information.

Campaign on vital issues

Apart from dealing with immediate welfare problems, SWEP is also campaigning to raise the profile of some of the underlying issues that contribute to them.

Road Deaths

SWEP is increasingly concerned by the growing number of livestock deaths on Dartmoor’s roads and is campaigning for the fencing of the most dangerous sections of the the roads that cross Dartmoor.

We have joined other animal welfare organisations in supporting the campaign launched by our main regional newspaper to raise the awareness of motorists on the moors.

We also call on motorists involved in collisions with animals not to ignore the incident, but to report the accident to the police, local vet or one of the animal welfare groups such as SWEP

Registration

One of SWEP’s objectives is to encourage responsible ownership – this includes moorland equines as well as domestic horses and ponies. Ownership of the horses and ponies on Bodmin Moor is often difficult to establish, allowing unscrupulous owners to evade their responsibilities.

Unlike Dartmoor, the Bodmin ponies are not registered, so we are campaigning for a registration scheme for equines on common land.

See the Hot Issues page for more information on these and other campaign issues.

Educate

We also aim to do something about the causes of the problems we are dealing with through education. We publish information about the care and management of equines on our web site and are developing a library of helpful articles.

We work with the Duchy College in Cornwall, taking students undertaking their animal welfare courses. Our own facilities would enable us to give practical demonstrations on the safe handling and management of semi – feral horses and ponies, as well as providing education in equine care and welfare. To this end we have launched the “A Home Of Our Own” appeal

Contribute to Community Development

We hope to increase the contribution we currently make to social and community development through both the welfare and educational aspects of our work. To date this has, of necessity, been limited to helping local farmers in the care and management of their equine stock during the foot and mouth crisis and in this period of plummeting prices for moorland ponies.

We plan to extend our work with the Duchy College to offer courses specifically related to the skills required to care for, handle and halter train wild moorland ponies, thereby enabling farmers to produce better quality ponies that will attract better prices.

More generally, Devon and particularly, Cornwall are economically disadvantaged areas where people are needing to diversify from traditional rural jobs. SWEP is well placed to offer courses in partnership with local colleges to those wanting to enter into, what DEFRA describes as, the Horse Industry (which would – in turn – generate income for it’s own work).