The dead body of piebald cob has been found at the entrance to a field in the Derbyshire Dales.
Police discovered the pony covered in snow and released a video appealing for information.
The body was lying near the gate of a field on a road between Beeley Lane and Cyda Lane on Beeley Moor.
“We had reports that a black and white pony cob had been abandoned at the entrance near the gate of a field,” said a member of the Derbyshire rural crime team in the footage.
“The reason for the video is that we’re appealing for information. We believe the pony was dumped sometime overnight on Monday 4 December to the early afternoon of Tuesday 5 December.
“We’re appealing to you, the public, in case you’ve seen any suspicious people or suspicious vehicles to make contact with the team on 101 or contact us via Facebook with any information to help us to investigate this.”
PC James Bowler told H&H the force had received the name of a possible suspect as a result of the appeal.
“There haven’t been any witnesses so far to the dumping of the cob, but we are in the process of speaking with people that may have seen where the pony was from and developing intelligence to firm up the information that we have been provided with,” he said.
“We are wanting to work closely with the RSPCA on this one as clear welfare and animal cruelty offences have been identified.
“It is hoped that once we have done this we will be in a position to interview the suspect.”