ANIMAL WELFARE:A CLAIM that more than 1,000 horses will starve to death this winter around the country because of lack of fodder and the inability of owners to provide for them was made yesterday by the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA).
Calling on the Department of Agriculture, Horse Racing Ireland and the other horsing bodies to place an embargo on horsebreeding until the overbreeding problems have been addressed, it said it had already put down 31 horses so far this year.
“These horses are the innocent victims of the Celtic Tiger years, when everyone owned the leg of a racehorse and there was plenty of money to care for them,” said Jimmy Cahill, general manager of the DSPCA.
He called on members of the public and the Department of Agriculture “to open their eyes to the impending equine disaster” during this Dublin Horse Week.
“The Dublin SPCA has rescued over 100 horses so far this year in Dublin alone,” Mr Cahill said. ”Thirty-one have had to be euthanised as they were beyond saving and the situation is set to deteriorate in the coming months
“We are calling on Government and the various racing bodies to address this crisis.
“Horses are rotting to a slow painful death in fields around our country and this situation is set to deteriorate as the weather gets colder and the grass on which most of them are currently surviving disappears.”
He said there was very strong legislation on the control of horses but this was not being enforced. In many of the cases dealt with by the society, horses were not micro-chipped, licensed and did not have passports as required by law.
“It is imperative that no more horses are bred in this country until all of those currently in existence have been rescued and rehomed.
“Until we as a nation can take responsibility for the animals in suffering around the country, we should not be allowing for further unlicensed breeding.”