Watch: Stolen therapy pony reunited with owner after public appeal

There were scenes of unbridled joy as a young girl was reunited with her therapy pony.

Cream, the therapy pony for a young girl with cerebral palsy, was stolen from a property in Tipperary but was found safe and well in Cork.

The smiles in Mayfield Garda Station as eight-year-old Cream was returned to its owner Anthony Fitzgerald, were nothing compared to the welcome she got when she was finally reunited with 13-year-old Erin, who has cerebral palsy.

The animal was stolen on June 29 from Mr Fiztgerald’s home in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Following the theft, the heartbroken family made a public appeal that went right around the country on social media. Their hopes and prayers were answered when gardaí in Mayfield in Cork located the pony and made arrangements for its return yesterday.

On Twitter yesterday morning, gardaí confirmed that Cream had been found with an update: “Good news in the search for this missing pony. Recovered safely by neighbouring gardaí in Cork today. The owners are currently en route to collect their pony from Mayfield Garda Station. We would like to thank everyone for retweeting!”

Mr Fitzgerald said he got the call in the early hours of the morning and after receiving a few photographs, he knew it was Cream. He also spoke of the special bond his daughter Erin shares with the pony.

“My daughter is 13 years of age. She’s a twin and she has cerebral palsy since birth and she’s confined to a wheelchair. Cream was born eight years ago from a horse that we had and Erin and herself just had an attachment. It’s as if she [Cream] knows. She acts different, even around my other two kids but when Erin is there, she becomes a complete lamb,” he told RTÉ News.

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Mr Fitzgerald also praised the role of the media and social media in finding the much-loved pony.

“We discussed the best road to take with regard to getting her back. Social media came to the forefront to tell you the truth. The response we had, between national newspapers, radio stations and everything. It was just a combined effort between the national media and the gardaí,” he said.

Sgt Michael O’Connell of Mayfield Garda Station was also glad to see a happy ending to the story and made arrangements to say farewell to Cream as she made her way back to Tipperary.

“We got a phenomenal response from the community and as a result of a call I received myself we acted straight away and, as a result, Cream was located and we were able to return her to her owner,” he said.