Animal lovers have been warned not to feed ponies, cattle, and sheep on commonland in Gower as it is enticing them towards the road leading to them being hit by cars. Vehicles colliding and in many cases killing animals roaming on the land has been a long-running problem – so much so that there is an action group in place called Gower Commons Safety Action Group.
The group aims to help improve road safety to reduce and prevent the deaths of the free-roaming livestock in the rural Swansea location. In recent days those who keep animals on the land have pleaded with well-meaning animal lovers not to throw food onto the land for the animals to eat as it is resulting in them being closer to danger.
Alyson Jones is one of those people who keeps animals in the area. She has more than 30 ponies there but there are around 50 all together, when combined with those which are owned by others, along with cattle and sheep. She described it as a "constant problem". Get Swansea stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
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Ms Jones, who owns Cefn Stud Welsh Mountain Ponies and Cob and has commoners rights on Cefn Bryn, said: "People are meaning well by putting out their vegetables and stuff like that for the animals but it can choke them, it can poison, them and it's encouraging them near the road and many have been killed by cars.
"It is a very fast road Cefn Bryn and there are foals out there as well. If there's no apples and potatoes and bread they won't go near the road as much. As commoners we all look after our animals. I brought all mine in for worming yesterday and I put reflective collars around their necks so they are more noticeable in the dark. I am doing everything I can to make sure mine don't get run over but when people are putting stuff on the verges it is making my life a lot more difficult. These animals are all owned and registered, microchipped, passported, wormed regularly – all very well looked after.
"I've had loads of horses knocked down over the years but, touch wood, since I put the reflective collars around their neck last November I haven't had a single animal hit. Obviously Fairwood Common has had a lot of cattle hit recently. Cefn Bryn has had cattle hit, there's always sheep being knocked down. It's people not paying attention when they are driving through – especially in the dark."
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