Pony left for dead loses survival fight
APONYpassed away after being left in a field among piles of rub- bish dumped by fly-tippers in Harrietsham. Sam Skinner was alerted to
the plight of the emaciated and lice-infested animal after a friend saw him in a field off Fair- bourne Lane. Sam (35), who stables her own
horse at nearby Poplar Farm, said the stricken animal was in a terrible condition: “His head was resting on the ground and he was just a bag of bones really, emaciated and with a puncture wound to his leg.” She added: “The pony was
badly sunburnt, with clumps of his coatmissing. I felt physically sick when I saw him, but I re- alised that I had to help him.” Sam thinks the ponymay have
been left to graze on ragwort, which is toxic for horses, and causes liver damage. She managed to coax him to
her stable and then rang the RSPCA, but she said: “The RSPCA took three-and-a-half hours to respond, and I ended up calling them every half hour. Eventually they authorised a vet to give him pain-relieving med- ication that night, but then they said he was my responsibility because he was in my stable.” A desperate Sam said she would have had to go into debt to foot the vet’s bill, but didn’t want to abandon the pony, who
she had affectionately named Poppet. She turned to her mother Sue, a cleaner, who of- fered to help pay the first bill, but the family did not have the funds to pay for Poppet’s contin- ued care. They began an appeal on Facebook that received 500 likes, but Poppet eventually lost her battle for life, 12 days after being dumped. An RSPCA spokesman said
the abandonment of horses was a growing problem and charities were struggling to cope, but there had been a misunder- standing over Poppet. The RSPCA believed she had
been rescued and claimed as a pet, but stressed if this was not the case, it would be happy to take on the care of the aban- doned pony.
Plan to fell ‘dangerous’ tree AWALDERSLADE resident says she has been put off going into her own garden on windy occasions due to a dangerous tree. Julie Lowery-Smith has lodged a planning application to fell
a protected sweet chestnut tree at 7 Goldstone Walk, Walder- sladeWoods. The application form said: “The tree is large, 20m high, and
very close to the rear of the house and also neighbouring houses. Three very large branches have fallen in the last two years, doing damage to brick walls. “We are worried of the extreme danger to our house and peo-
ple inside, and are now reluctant to go into the garden when there is any sign of wind.” Maidstone Council will determine the application.
Help shape our health services by Dennis Fowle
LOCAL residents have a chance to help GPs shape their future health services. They are being encouraged to comment on a prospectus of priorities recently published by the new West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which can be found on
www.westkentccg.nhs.uk. Dr Bob Bowes, chairman of
the CCG, said: “We want West Kent to be a healthy place and the prospectus will help resi- dents understand how we plan to achieve this.” The prospectus explains how the CCG will use the £471mil-
Grecian St – North Maidstone - £750 PCM
lion budget to buy most health services for the 500,000 popula- tion of West Kent (Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling and part of Sevenoaks). The CCG is made up of the
area’s 62 GP practices and they are responsible for planning and funding everything from emergency hospital care to dis- trict nurses. “Listening to residents and
acting on that is the key to our role,” said Dr Bowes. The public can join an online health network or a patient par- ticipation group at their GP sur- gery. The CCG can be emailed on
westkent@nhs.net or by phone on 01732 375200.
Westwood House – Bearsted - £650 PCM
Fro mor information on these properties or details of further properties visit our website or call
BEARSTED OFFICE Tel: 01622 737800
Bearsted Green Maidstone ME14 4QZ Email:
lettings@ferrisandco.net
www.ferrisandco.net Find us on Support YOUR local paper — and we can support YOU - advertise on 01622 630330 East 15
Yeoman Way – Bearsted - £875 PCM
Stable Cottage – Thurnham - £750 PCM
Ferris & Co. Independent Estate Agents with property for sale and let
in Maidstone - Kent & surrounding areas
If you are selling your home locally
Elmview - Detling - £1350 PCM
Longham Copse – Downswood - £1100 PCM
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Blean Square - £750 PCM – Vinters Park
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