Leeds horse sanctuary overwhelmed by response to rescue of pony Tino

A horse sanctuary in Leeds has been overwhelmed by the public's response after it shared one of its rescue stories online.
Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.
Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.

The team at Hope Pastures were called out last weekend to help a very weak young pony found by a horse owner who had been walking her dogs.

They met police and RSPCA inspectors at the scene, where it was agreed that the male pony should be taken to the charity’s quarantine stable at its sanctuary in Weetwood Lane.

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It is from there that the current Hope Pastures team has been rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing horses, ponies and donkeys since 2004.

Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.
Male pony Tino was extremely weak when he was first rescued last weekend.

They found the pony – named Valentino or Tino for short – had such bad ulceration and infection in his eyes that he was virtually blind.

But after a week of care at the sanctuary, Tino’s future is already looking brighter.

Trustee Kim Pengelly said today: “He’s coming along really, really well. He still has an issue with his right eye though which means we’re going to send him off to Rainbow Equine, the horse hospital.”

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She said it meant people who had followed Tino’s story online should wait before coming to the sanctuary to visit him.

Now Tino is on the road to recovery at Hope Pastures in Leeds.Now Tino is on the road to recovery at Hope Pastures in Leeds.
Now Tino is on the road to recovery at Hope Pastures in Leeds.

And there are plenty of them after social media posts by Hope Pastures were shared globally, prompting messages from as far away as the United States and some welcome donations.

“Every case is completely different but lots of them are often in the same sort of desperate state that Tino was in,” Kim said.

“I think it would be fair to say we’re absolutely in shock about how people have taken Tino to their hearts. The response has just been phenomenal. It’s been amazing.”

Text MULE00 (mule zero zero) followed by the amount, to 70070. Eg: to give £10, text MULE00 £10 to 70070.