A KILKENNY farmer and horse breeder has been jailed and banned for life from owning any animal for what a judge described as “an appalling case” of cruelty to animals.
Simon O’Dwyer (64) appeared before Kilkenny District Court yesterday and was sentenced to a total of 23 months in prison for offences under animal welfare laws.
He is already serving a four-month sentence for related animal cruelty offences.
The various sentences imposed yesterday are to run concurrently for four months after his current sentence ends.
Judge William Harnett also banned O’Dwyer from “owning any animal” for the rest of his life.
“This was an appalling case,” the judge said.
He awarded costs of €5,700 and the forfeiture of a rescued horse to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA).
O’Dwyer, of Garrue, Mullinavat, Co Kilkenny, had pleaded guilty to four counts of cruelty to animals and to three counts of failing to dispose of carcasses on lands he farmed between January and December 2009.
Garda Shane Elliffe of Thomastown Garda station had told the court of encountering a pack of dogs feeding on the carcasses of horses and cows during one raid on the farm.
Surviving animals were seized by officers from the Department of Agriculture.
Joe Collins, president of Veterinary Ireland, had given evidence that O’Dwyer showed “no understanding that basic things like water were required” for the keeping of animals.
Mr Collins said he treated a horse taken from the farm in March 2009 which was “unable to walk or seek shelter” because its hooves had been so badly neglected.
Garda Elliffe told the court that O’Dwyer had “shown total disregard” for the welfare of animals, and asked that he be banned from owning “any animal in the future”.
Judge Harnett said he had considered a psychiatric report and also noted that O’Dwyer was already serving a jail sentence imposed earlier this month for related offences by a court in Co Tipperary.
He said yesterday’s sentence was “reasonable in all the circumstances”.
Speaking outside the court, Barbara Bent, chairwoman of the ISPCA, said she had “never seen such disregard for the welfare of horses in 42 years”.
She described O’Dwyer’s farm as “a concentration camp for horses”.
Gardaí said O’Dwyer was facing further charges.