4 Ponies Lose Their Tails in Weird Crime at Downriver Park

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TRENTON, MI – Police in the downriver suburb of Trenton say they're investigating an odd crime: Someone snipped off the tails of four ponies at Elizabeth Park.

The ponies, part of the pony ride attraction at the riverfront park, lost about two feet of hair, according to a widely shared post on the Trenton Police Department’s Facebook page.

The unauthorized trims happened sometime between 3:30 p.m. Monday and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police are asking anyone with information to call the Detective Bureau at (734) 676-3825.

Predictably, whoever cut the ponies’ tails is experiencing the wrath of the internet, with comments like “What is wrong with these people?” and “I hate people!” and “This is why I can't stand people. Such greedy pigs.”

Others called the unknown scissor-wielding suspect or suspects “subhuman garbage,” “insensitive lowlifes,” and “sick,” “dumb” and “disrespectful.” Robert Sladovnik offered a suggestion about the punishment a judge should mete if the perpetrator is caught:

“ … I say picking up pony poop on their knees for five years,” he wrote, noting “that's not too long for what they've done.”

Debbie Cislo, who obviously knows a thing or two about ponies, raised a more practical concern:

“This is so sad,” she wrote. “They need their hair to swat away flies/mosquitoes. Horrible for someone to do this.”

Several people suggested the ponies’ tails may have been cut for hair weaves, and police said that’s one lead they’re working on.

“The only thing we can figure is you can sell the hair, (but) you’re not gonna make a whole lot of money, it’s $40 a pound on the Internet,” Trenton Police Chief Steven Voss told WWJ, adding that police “don’t have anything to go on.”

The ponies weren’t harmed, but the culprit will face animal cruelty charges if caught, Voss said. Under Michigan law, that could mean up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine per act — in this case, up to $20,000.

The ponies’ tail hair will grow back, but it will take about a year, police said.