An abandoned foal found with two tin cans trapped on its legs has been named Tintin by his rescuers.
Animal welfare officers were alerted to the case after a concerned member of the public spotted the creature with its mother in a large snow-covered field, strewn with rubbish.
Becky Bedson, a field officer for World Horse Welfare, visited the area and arranged for an immediate rescue.
She said: “Although the mare was friendly, the foal was unhandled and extremely skittish and despite trying for some time, I was unable to get close enough to check it out.
“As it would be impossible to catch the nervous foal in such a large field without running the risk of it running around and potentially harming itself further, the decision was made to return with help, corrals, and sedative dart gun to enable the capture of the foal that would cause it the least stress.
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“In the end we didn’t need to sedate the foal, which we discovered was a male, as when we corralled him with his friendly mum, who we’ve now named Snowy, we were able to check him out.”
Under the mud and long winter fur, the welfare team discovered a strip of metal around his lower leg and were able to remove two complete cans – believed to be baked bean tins – that had fitted themselves over the foal's foot like a glove.
The cans are believed to have been on the foot for a couple of weeks and now Tintin, aptly named following his rescue, has been released from them he is expected to make a complete recovery.
Ms Bedson added: “We don’t believe these tins were put on deliberately. Tintin is unhandled and doesn’t allow close approach, so we simply can’t imagine anyone getting close enough to do this.
“Perhaps he stepped on two cans that were already inside each other among the rubbish in his field?”
Since their rescue, the horses are now “blossoming” having been signed over by the authorities to World Horse Welfare. They are currently being looked after at Hall Farm centre in Snetterton, near Thetford, and before being rehomed.
- Visit www.worldhorsewelfare.org for more information about World Horse Welfare.
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