ANIMAL lovers from across the UK on Monday flocked to the first sale of Dartmoor ponies in Devon since the foot and mouth crisis began, saving 150 animals from certain slaughter.

Around 200 people watched ringside at the animals went up for sale at Auctioneers Rendells at Chagford and only 33 ponies remained unsold.

The RSPCA had warned that ponies would either have to be sold or culled to prevent them starving on the moor over the winter due to lack of grazing.

Auctioneer Tim Garrett said although there were many onlookers at the sale and it looked very much like a 'football match' the actual number of people buying the animals was a lot less.

'There were around 45 buyers and only six I did not recognise,' he said. 'The majority were people who had bought ponies before and know how to look after them.'

The ponies fetched on average £24 a piece which was four times more than last year's sale, said Mr Garrett.

But he added that people were still not prepared to pay decent prices for decent ponies and from an auctioneer's point of view it was a nightmare because the costs of putting on such a sale were enormous.

One animal which did not sell on Monday was the subject of a national newspaper article the next day and the phones at Rendells were suddenly red hot from prospective buyers.

Among the local buyers was livestock dealer Willie Cleave whose farm at Highampton was the first to be hit by foot and mouth disease back in February.

Mr Cleave bought 30 ponies to add to his existing 150 which he has being using to eat his grass until he can restock with livestock.

The RSPCA had reluctantly accepted that any remainder of ponies this year would have to be culled but requested that it supervise such a cull so it would be carried out in a humane way.

Chairman of the Dartmoor Commoners' Council Cherry Seage said there was another pony sale at Hatherleigh today (Thursday) and a further one in Tavistock at the end of November where it was hoped most of the excess ponies would be sold.

'There will be a certain amount that will probably have to be put down but that will be a matter for the commoners' council members to decide,' she said.

'The main thing is we need to cut down on the herds and improve the quality of the herds so animals will sell better at the markets in the future.'