Garages urged to report drivers suspected of injuring New Forest ponies

Garages are being urged to check for signs that a damaged car has been involved in an animal accident (Image: New Forest Roads Awareness) Animal welfare campaigners in the New Forest[1] are urging garage workshops to report suspected hit-and-run drivers. New Forest Roads Awareness is encouraging mechanics to raise the alarm if they believe a damaged car has been involved in an accident involving livestock.

Members of the group have condemned drivers who break the law by failing to report animal accidents. The latest hit-and-run involved a young donkey that was struck on the B3078 Roger Penny Way by a vehicle thought to have been heading in the direction of Fordingbridge or Downton.

Daily Echo: Dozens of free-roaming animals are killed or injured in the New Forest every year Dozens of free-roaming animals are killed or injured in the New Forest every year (Image: Newsquest.)

The accident occurred at around 5pm on Sunday, December 3, just past the junction with Longcross Plain Road.

A critical care doctor and a member of the public stopped to care for the animal, but it had to be put down by one of the agisters.