Family 'devastated' after pony shot with 'BB gun'

Phoenix was found in his field struggling to bear weight on his leg on Saturday

"He might not come through this" - the owner of a pony shot in the leg at a petting farm has said, as she and her family face an anxious wait for him to improve.

Phoenix, a four-year-old Shetland at Nick's Farm near Bournemouth, was found in his field struggling to bear weight on his leg on Saturday.

Owners, Lucy and Kieran Loder, brought him into a stable where a vet discovered a pellet-sized hole in his left hind leg and X-rays later revealed it was also fractured.

It is thought he was shot deliberately - with a suspected BB gun.

Farmer Kieran Loder said Phoenix has been very distressed since the incident

Ms Loder said Phoenix, who is used to being brushed and fussed over at the farm for children with special educational needs, would have probably walked up to his attacker expecting to be petted.

She said Phoenix, who is "fluffy like a teddy bear" and about the size of a Great Dane dog was "in a lot of pain with his leg swollen so much he can't move it".

The pony is now on antibiotics and painkillers, with Ms Loder saying they are waiting anxiously to see if the medication works "and if the vet thinks he can save him".

An X-ray revealed a fracture in the Shetland's leg

Farmer Kieran Loder, said Phoenix was "very distressed" and it would be a "long process to recovery".

"Unfortunately he's got to stay in the stable for 10 days to have more X-rays, to figure out if it's going to heal," he said.

"It's awful for a pony that doesn't hurt anybody, he's one of our family pets."

He continued: "If we cannot get him right, I've got to explain to my children that I've got to do the right thing and he's going to have to be put to sleep.

"We put our heart and soul into all our animals and for somebody to jeopardise what we're doing, it's so upsetting."

Lucy's son Anthony says he is devastated by what's happened

Dorset Police said its Rural Crime Team officers were investigating.

The force said the pony had been "possibly shot in the leg with a BB gun" between 18:00 on 1 November and 08:00 on 2 November at the farm in Valley Road, Bournemouth.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the force.