Cecilia the pony was dumped and left to die during the lashing rain and high winds of Storm Brendan. She was found the next morning by the landowners, and it was obvious that she had been tipped off the back of a truck as there were no hoof prints in the mud, only tyre tracks - she did not get there by herself. She had severe muscle damage from where she had been struggling to try and get herself up and had carved into the mud whilst thrashing around. Being a flight animal, she must have been absolutely petrified, lying there for hours desperately wanting to get herself up whilst trying to escape but not having the strength to stand.

She was scooped out of the mud by locals and the Happy Endings Rescue Team. The name 'Cecilia' after the well known song was quickly decided upon as she was 'breaking the hearts' of the people that found her.

At the vets, this brave girl showed what a fighter she is, tucking into some well deserved food. It took fours hours, two vets and two nurses to give her a hot bath and wash the mud off of her.

She had bloods taken, was given fluids and started treatment for an ulcer on her eye. Sadly despite their best efforts, Cecilia deteriorated and she went into multi-organ failure and the decision was made to put her to sleep. The story sadly takes a more heart-breaking turn as Cecilia was 6 months pregnant.

Who knows what this poor girl had been through, but we know that suffering did not happen overnight. Sadly the horse crisis in ongoing and we are determined that she will not die in vain; we must try and help other horses before they too lose their fight.

We have been overwhelmed by support from the public and we hope that in her memory we can invest in new equipment to try and save more horses like Cecilia.

Our vet has released a statement below, read on to see how we hope to carry on saving horses like Cecilia. We would like to use any extra money raised after her veterinary bills have been paid to buy:

A hoist

A trailer and round pen

Weigh scales

That way we are fully equipped if another pony like her needs our help.

If you are able to help, in any way no matter how small, please donate to help more horses like beautiful Cecilia.

Sleep well precious girl xxx

Director and Head of Hospital, Katie Snalune, of Newnham Court Equine Clinic gave a statement:

"Cecilia was brought into Newnham Court Equine Clinic as an emergency admission on Wednesday afternoon. She was emaciated with a body condition score of 1/9, and weighed only 185kg. She was covered in mud from head to toe, and had a heart rate of over 100 beats per minute, showing signs of severe dehydration and endotoxaemia, secondary to diarrhoea.

Cecilia was put in intensive care and treated with plasma, intravenous fluid therapy, anti-endotoxins, antidiarrhoeals, intestinal adsorbents, electrolytes and careful refeeding. Blood and faecal samples were taken revealing severe intestinal protein loss, likely secondary to worm infestation. Ultrasonography showed thickening of her large colon, and also confirmed she was 6 months in foal. Blood markers revealed evidence of severe protein catabolism, likely associated with a starved mare trying to cope with the increased demand of being pregnant. Despite intensive care, Cecilia deteriorated developing multi-organ failure and was put to sleep today. We are devastated that her intestinal damage was too severe to save her and her unborn foal.

It is a sad state of affairs that this is a daily occurrence for us being presented with emaciated diarrhoeic ponies. This is a totally preventable disease that merely requires good pasture management, appropriate nutrition and worming. These are basic requirements for any horse owner to provide and it is just not acceptable that this continues on and on, on a daily basis, let alone the cruelty of being dumped off a truck.

We continue to work alongside Happy Endings Rescue doing all we can to bring these poor animals back to health."