A rescue pony who faced being put down due to the cost of his upkeep has been saved — thanks to an appeal in The Royal Gazette.

The future was looking bleak for five-year-old Dazzy at the start of this week because the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which saved him from an unfit owner, could no longer afford the $1,000-a-month cost of keeping him at Spicelands Riding Centre in Warwick.

SPCA Inspector Beaman Smith told this newspaper on Monday that the chestnut-and-black animal could be put down within days if a home was not found for him.

Yesterday, Mr. Smith said he had been inundated with offers of a place for Dazzy to live after a front-page article appeared in The Royal Gazette.

“The response has been tremendous,” he said. “I have got so many people that want this pony, I don’t know who to give it to.

“People have donated money for him, people want to take him abroad. He has definitely, definitely been saved — that’s 100 percent.”

Mr. Smith said Dazzy was most likely to go to a home in either St. George’s or Somerset but that he needed to visit both properties to check their suitability. “I have got two people that have already been to see him,” he said.

“One has a beautiful home in St. George’s and the other has a beautiful home in Somerset.

“One lady said she’s going to stay here for 18 months but he’d go back to Canada with her when she leaves.

“I love to hear that somebody will be so committed to this pony. I will go and visit both places and make a decision.”

Mr. Smith added: “I’m very pleased now. It’s from one extreme to another and it’s all thanks to the article. It needed to be done.

“I think most people don’t realise that the SPCA rescues all animals, not just cats and dogs.”

Earlier, Katie Cook Terceira, a British Horse Society instructor and former president of the now-defunct Bermuda Pony Club, said she would set up a collective to raise funds for Dazzy’s upkeep if an owner could not be found.

“This has quite upset me,” she said. “I have been calling around to people to see what can be done. The picture in the paper was just beautiful.”

Dazzy was bred on the Island as a racing pony but was given away by his owner because he was unsuccessful on the track.

The woman he was given to kept him in cramped conditions in Pembroke and provided only a basic level of care, according to Mr. Smith.

He warned her that if she did not surrender the animal to the charity, she could face criminal charges of animal neglect. She handed him over last autumn.