I woke up this morning to find out that I am a "big cat debunker" and that this is over the Carmarthenshire pony deaths.
Posts from Face Book have been splashed around the internet so I feel no obligation not to show them here as they are public now.
This is the post that started the whol;e thing off:
Laura Jones is with Andrew Bussell DipWcf.
**Mynyddygarreg / Four Roads area **
Absolutely devastated to be writing this.
Two nights ago our beautiful Shetlands were attacked during the night. Two have survived but sadly the other 5 were found dead.
Two of the five were found head first deep in the hedge. One with lacerations to her back legs. Another mare has had her mane & tail ripped out and left scattered around her. The fourth had her stomach ripped open & the fifth has a small laceration on her stifle & bleeding from her mouth.
I’m heartbroken beyond words and can’t believe what’s happened.
I’ve asked a number of people to come and help me figure out what has happened (including my vet) and it appears a dog or some sort of animal has done this. If anyone else has experienced this in the area recently please let me know and maybe we can help each other figure out what it is that’s doing this.
Police & RSPCA have been informed.
This isn’t a post I thought I would ever need to share and don’t ever want to wake up to the scenes I found yesterday morning again.
Please let me know if you have any info.
The photos included -easily found online- were these.
GRAPHIC IMAGES
I sent the following message:
"Hello. My name is Terry Hooper-Scharf and I am a naturalist specialising in canid and felids (exotics) and from 1977 to 2013 (and still occasionally) I am a wildlife consultant to UK police forces on incidents allegedly relating to "big cats". I also worked with Swansea University when its Exotic Cat Group was active. I was forwarded a post about some of your Shetland ponies being killed. I wondered whether you could tell me what the vet involved thought re the cause of death and whether there were any other photographs of the dead ponies showing wounds"
I did point out in a comment that I was a little dubious about a "big cat" being responsible. The reason for this is simple; the hair from the main and tail pulled seemed to be more consistent with a canid attack. The cuts on the pony's leg were at odd angles that were not consistent with a large cats claws and the stomache ripped open has been noted in past known dog attacks. A large cat -leopard or puma would go forthe more isolated pony and the evidence for this having happened in the past in the UK is overwhelming and we have all of that evidence recorded and later added to by professionals at universities not associated with myself or the EAR.
I asked again whether any of the animal had been consumed and what the vet thought -it seems initially he had suggested an animal like a dog which is more consistent. Unfortunately everyone suddenly started chipping in about seeing or knowing "big cats" were around and a "big cat" group got involved. From that point things went downhill.
It is a simple and straightforward question to assess facts; what did the vet think -could I be put in touch with him? Howver, despite asking four times I have received no direct reply.
All above board, sensible and clear but I did not mention the dog idea outright as I needed the evidence or the opinion of the vet involved.
Today I was to find out the "response of the owners to his claims" -I had made no claims and as the owners refused to respond I could only conclude, to myself at the time, that this was a dog attack but not rule out a person also being involved. Here is that 'response':
I point out again that this was not sent to me by the owner and may have been in response to others who suggested dubious lampers and their dogs...
The dog and lampers seem a good theory but I need to keep pointing out the owners appear to have gone with the "Big Cat" group and theory rather than converse with myself so that facts can be double checked and the persistent refusal to discuss what the vet thought other than dog or other animal does not help.
I was a sceptic on large cats in the wild when I started but after four decades of seeing the evidence from dentition marks in bones, DNA, scat, many kills etc., I was very outspoken on the reality of large and small introduced cats in the UK -which police forces and even zoologists agreed with. It is why DEFRA became very opposed to my involvement in looking at any livestock deaths. And there is only one member of the big cat family in the UK so use of the term "Big cats" in all cases shows the competency of "Big Cat Groups".
To call me a "Big Cat sceptic" is like saying Dr Christian Barnard was against heart surgery.
Since my reputation is being impuned I take this opportunity to respond
Based on what I have read and seen this is not recorded as a cat attack.
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