A German woman caught by police transporting a Shetland pony in the back seat of her pink car refused to pay a €35 ($41) fine and now faces administrative proceedings.
Earlier this month, police in Alsdorf, near Aachen, Germany, pulled over a suspicious pink car after seeing something strange through the rear window. Upon popping open the trunk, police officers came face to face with a cute Shetland pony sitting on a small carpet rolled over the reclined rear seats with a bucket of feed in front of it. The animal seemed quite calm, suggesting that this wasn’t its first ride-along, and the woman didn’t seem to acknowledge that there was anything wrong. She had simply tied the small horse with a tope to a metal eyelet, which she seemed to believe was safe enough. Not even the policeman’s explanation that, in case of a traffic accident at a speed of 50 km/h, a 150-kilogram pony would be hurled forward with a force of 7.5 tonnes changed her mind.
Photo: Aachen Police
“The lead rope would most likely not be able to withstand this weight, endangering the life of the pony, the driver, and other road users,” the Aachen police explained. “Even though ponies are small, they don’t belong in the trunk, but in a horsebox.”
The police considered the woman’s unusual means of transporting a pony extremely dangerous! After all, we all want to take our pets with us everywhere, but that isn’t always a good idea. It’s not clear why the woman opted to put the adorable pony in the back of her pink car, but we do know that she refused to pay the 35 euro fine issued by police, insisting that she had done nothing wrong.
In the end, the woman was prevented from continuing her journey with the pony in the back seat of her car, and a penalty notice is now pending against her.
