A DEVASTATED pony owner has warned others about the dangers of tying them up after his pet was strangled to death.

Kyle McClements, aged 19, has spoken of his heartache after discovering his oneyear- old grey pony, Pudding, had become tangled in its own tether at grassland off Boot Lane, Doffcocker.

Mr McClements said he did not mean to harm the animal — in fact he bought it as a rescue pony with the intention of giving it a better life.

He pleaded guilty at Bolton Magistrates Court to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal earlier this week.

Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £250 prosecution costs.

Mr McClements, who lives in Montserrat Road, Johnson Fold, said: “I did not really know a lot about tethering but I realise I should have read up on it. I would warn others to be really careful when tethering because it is not as easy as it seems and accidents do happen.

“I am absolutely devastated about this, I never meant to hurt him. He was rescued and next to death’s door when I got him and I wanted to give him a better life.

“I had only had him a couple of months and he was wild so that is why he was tethered.”

The RSPCA received a call from a member of the public who found the dead pony on May 25.

Mr McClements arrived at the same time as the RSPCA and was not allowed near the animal.

He added: “I was so devastated and shocked that I collapsed when I got there. I had been going to see him twice a day to feed him and look after him.”

Mr McClements, who has another rescue horse called Chance, now plans to sell him because he is struggling to come to terms with what happened to Pudding.

He said: “I am so distressed about this and I can’t sleep properly. I don’t plan to keep any more horses.”

An RSPCA spokesman said: “Anyone tethering their horse must ensure they know what they are doing.

Tethering does come with risks.”

amanda.smith@the boltonnews.co.uk