ELEANOR, A RESCUED pony who went missing from animal welfare charity My Lovely Horse Rescue at the end of May, has been found safe and sound and after a month-long search.

Eleanor, who was taken into My Lovely Horse’s care around two years ago, disappeared from the sanctuary in Co Kildare on Friday 29 May. 

Despite volunteers searching neighbouring farms and fields, there were no signs of Eleanor, and the organisation came to the conclusion that she must have been taken from the property.

Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for the organisation, Martina Kenny said that they had delayed making a public appeal until they were absolutely certain she was not in the locality. 

“We contacted the relevant authorities and there were no reports of a loose horse or sightings either. We didn’t want to go straight online, we wanted to check everywhere first,” she said.

“But we’ve had no leads, and we’ve had to come to the conclusion that she has been taken.”

Month-long search

Now, after nearly a month of searching for Eleanor, the pony was located safe and sound yesterday.

She has been taken back into the care of My Lovely Horse Rescue. 

“There are no words big enough for what we are feeling tonight,” the organisation said in a statement online. 

The organisation said there were moments when “our hearts were breaking” but that it was never going to stop looking for Eleanor, stating that there were many false leads on the search over the past month. 

However, one person contacted the charity yesterday saying that they had spotted the pony in Clondalkin.

Once the person verified themselves by holding up a newspaper with yesterday’s date on it, the organisation went to search for Eleanor. 

“We drove to Clondalkin, hardly daring to believe it,” the statement from My Lovely Horse Rescue continues, stating that when they arrived to the location, Eleanor was tied on a long blue rope and hidden behind bushes.

The organisation said that the moment that welfare workers spotted Eleanor after 28 long days, there were “tears of relief, tears of joys”.

“We wrapped our arms around her and could hardly believe she was finally back where she belongs,” it said. 

My Lovely Horse Rescue thanked the public for their help in locating Eleanor, stating that the public carried them “through some very dark days”.  

“To whoever thought they could take her from us, know this, you didn’t win,” the organisation said.

“We got her back. No reward. We never gave up and we never will. We will always fight for our animals, no matter how long it takes.”

“Tonight, Eleanor is safe. She’s surrounded by the people who love her. She is home.”