A LEADING international animal rights group has pledged £1,000 to help catch those responsible for beheading a family’s pony.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) pledged the funds yesterday after hearing about the death of Trigger, a Shetland pony, in County Durham earlier this month.

The seven-year-old animal was taken from his paddock at Whitemoor Allotments, Spennymoor, and decapitated.

He was last seen on November 8 at 5.30pm, and his distraught owner, Patricia Lister, found his severed head a ten-minute walk away along an old railway line leading to Ferryhill on November 16.

The following day, Ms Lister also discovered the headless body of one her ducks, while three others have gone missing.

Mimi Bekhechi, a Peta spokeswoman, said: “It’s a particularly horrific crime.

“We hope that the reward will encourage people to come forward to offer information on the person, or people, who did this.

“Someone must know something about the cruel person who committed this callous act.

“A person capable of deliberately causing this kind of suffering to a helpless animal demonstrates a very worrying psychological state and must be found.

“We are calling on anyone with information about the case to come forward.”

She added that research by law enforcement groups and mental health experts showed that many people who hurt animals moved on to harming humans.

Several Northern Echo readers have pledged £50 each to help capture the killers.

Lisayn Holden, of Darlington, Alison Robinson, of Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, Janice Brabban, of Heighington, near Darlington, and a fourth anonymous donor from Wolsingham, have pledged money.

Miss Holden said: “I’m an animal lover and this is just horrible.

“I think the more money that is put into a pot the better as there is more chance people will come forward with information.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0345-60-60- 365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111 .