2023-08-21 18:08:00
Chanchan and Elléonore had a somewhat eventful start to their story. Even if today “everything is going very well, the little one is taking good care of it”explains dad Pierre Dalemans, the beginnings were not easy.
A few days before their daughter’s birthday, Pierre Damelans and his partner Alexandra Roulin bought a 17-year-old Shetland pony that they wanted to give to their little Elléonore. One morning, when they wanted to go feed their pony, they found his meadow empty. Had Chanchan taken to their heels by taking advantage of a weakness in her fence? No, because the fence, which was also electrified, showed no anomaly. Soon, the new owners concluded that the animal had been stolen. They also filed a complaint with the Meuse-Hesbaye police zone while regretting the loss of the pony. They had also launched calls on social networks.
Registered mail
Then, twist: a few days later, Chanchan was found near the railway lines, close to the Bas-Oha station. The shetland pony was in good shape, her feet were groomed and she was brushed. The Dalemans-Roulin couple was then convinced: the dissemination of information on social networks had prompted the thief to release the animal. “He said to himself that he could do nothing with him. Neither resell him nor even appear with him under penalty of being unmasked.” Chanchan was then offered to the little girl and everything ended well.
Except that yesterday Monday, Pierre Dalemans and his partner received a registered letter, signed by Infrabel. Mail which urges them to contact their civil liability insurance. “Our billing department has been informed that this accident has caused damage to Infrabel”, is it noted in the mail. And to add that “Your civil liability may be incurred”. Infrabel suggests that the owner of Chanchan report the incident to his insurance. Otherwise, the invoice will be sent to the owners of the pony. “If you do not reply, we will automatically apply the standard procedure”, underlined Infrabel in its letter. For what harm? The Chanchan pony was flagged off the tracks at 7am that Monday to SNCB drivers. This has led to the implementation of a careful march for trains over a distance of 1.5 kilometers. The trains therefore traveled in slow motion for a little over an hour to avoid hitting the pony. This caused delays between 5 and 15 minutes. And these delays can be quantified as a fixed price, we explain on the Infrabel side. The Wanzois therefore quickly contacted his insurer, hoping not to be forced to pay for this unwanted escapade by Chanchan…
A standard mail
Information taken from Infrabel, the letter sent by registered mail to the owners of the pony “is a standard letter that Infrabel sends to owners of animals involved in accidents or incidents in or along railway linesexplains Jessica Nibelle, spokesperson for Infrabel. The manager of the railway infrastructure then requests compensation for the damage suffered such as the repair of the infrastructure elements, the canceled trains, the recall of the staff,…” Except that here, it was not due to the poor maintenance of the fences by the owner. “The case of the Bas-Oha pony is an exception”, continues the spokesperson. Infrabel relies on “the good faith of the owner”on the fact that the animal was stolen and that “his caretaking would not have been the subject of any negligence”. Pierre Dalemans will therefore receive a second letter from Infrabel in the coming days “to tell him that the file is closed without further action”. The story therefore ends well for Chanchan and for its owners.
This content is not available in this configuration.
Find out here.
1692652237
#Pony #rails #Elléonores #dad #pay #delay #trains #day