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***THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES***

A GoFundMe page has been set up to nurse a badly injured pony back to health after he was rescued in a field close to Mayfield.

Mikey was found tethered to a gate on Wednesday after a passerby alerted My Lovely Horse Rescue Cork to a horse with several injuries near the Rathcooney Road.

My Lovely Horse Rescue Cork immediately leapt into action and rushed to save the animal, who had been the victim of sustained abuse.

"This particular incident has really shocked our team," Kelly Mellerick of My Lovely Horse Rescue told Cork Beo. "This didn't happen to this poor pony overnight by any means.

(Image: My Lovely Horse Rescue Cork)

"This was a lot of attacks. There were puncture wounds which were consistent with dog bites and there were fresher wounds too. Mikey had deep rope burns from being tethered to the gate.



"There were a lot of infections that our vet is still treating and this will be a long journey back to health for Mikey. He is in a bad way right now and there was a horrific smell coming from him when we rescued him. He was clearly suffering for a long time.

"We contacted the Department of Agriculture vet, Jim, who has been fantastic and thankfully, Mikey managed to get some food down him this morning while we washed him.

(Image: My Lovely Horse Rescue Cork)

"He is still struggling to breathe properly and we don't know if that's to do with the many infections that he has or if it's because his trachea was damaged by the rope.

"We have no idea who is responsible for this. We don't know if Mikey was used as dog bait or if he was being stabbed or how long he has been abandoned. Unfortunately, he isn't micro-chipped so we can't be certain of anything other than that he has been through an awful lot."

Gardai have been made aware of Mikey's case, as has the Department of Agriculture.

To donate to the fund set up to raise money for Mikey's recovery, click here.