This pony is facing eviction, and his Summerford family is fighting to keep him
'He means the world to us,' said Julia Hawkins
A family in the Newfoundland town of Summerford is desperately trying to keep their beloved pet pony from being evicted by the town.
Julia Hawkins's family has had Sparks — a Shetland pony — living in their barn for the last five years. Sparks has been in the community for a decade, after being rescued from the Bonavista Peninsula by a family friend.
"He was rescued from the back of a bus. We don't know how long he was there, actually, but he was only being fed marshmallows. No hay, so he's a little bit traumatized from that," Hawkins told CBC News.
"He means the world to us. He's been here in the garden, and he's walked the streets of Summerford for 10 years," she said. "All the little kids come in Summerford to see him, like he's pretty popular."
But Hawkins said her husband was served papers by the town on Friday, telling them their barn — and Sparks — had to be removed within 30 days citing a town bylaw preventing residents from having livestock. Two other residents also received letters according to the town, neither of whom would do an interview.
Although Hawkins, a former town councillor, admits she didn't have a permit when the barn for Sparks was built, she says that still doesn't make the request right.
WATCH | Residents of Summerford speak with the CBC's Carolyn Stokes:
"Does it make it still right for the Town of Summerford to tell us to get rid of our pet? I mean, it's not livestock," she said.
"There's been zero complaints with Sparks. Mark, my friend, had him for five years. Zero complaints that he knows of, the town never contacted him. We've had him for five and zero complaints here," she said.
Hawkins is writing an appeal to the town to see if it'll overturn its decision.
"They have every opportunity to make this right for Sparks," she said. "If they change their plan, include Sparks. No one wants to see him go in this town."
Municipal bylaws cut pony population in the past
Jack Harris, president of the Newfoundland Pony Society, says the group is concerned by the town's decision.
Although Sparks isn't a Newfoundland pony, Harris believes it could have ramifications for people who keep the animals. Harris said the depopulation of the Newfoundland pony, which has dropped from more than 12,000 animals in the 1980s to just a few hundred today, was caused in part by municipal bylaws of the 1970s.
"It's gone down because of regulations that prevented the pony from surviving on this habitat, which was basically … roaming around surviving on the common ground," Harris said Tuesday.
"When regulations said you couldn't do that, and other regulations from municipalities make it difficult for people to hold, keep ponies in particular communities, than that has caused the population to go down."
Harris hopes the town will review its bylaws and the decisions on ponies in the municipality.
"I think the situation is an example of something that needs to be looked at more closely. And there's obviously implications for individuals, but there's also implications for the future of the Newfoundland pony on a big-picture basis."
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With files from The St. John's Morning Show