State needs to do more to protect horse welfare

The State needs to do more to clamp down on those abusing horses and other animals, according to Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Cathal Crowe.

Deputy Crowe raised the issue in the Dáil, where he outlined instances of animal welfare abuses he had seen and had been made aware of in recent weeks, and called for tougher sanctions on those who do not properly care for their animals.

“I was sent a photo recently by an American tourist who had visited Clare and they saw a horse tethered to a metal pole outside a supermarket. This happens all the time around the country and it is inexcusable. The law is robust but the enforcement is not.

“Nobody in this country can claim to have a cultural or traditional entitlement to own horses. If you want to own horses, you should buy land, rent land or pay for a livery but do not tie them up outside a supermarket or let them die in a ditch with a rib cage that’s hollowed out.

“It is happening far too often and paints a very poor picture for animal welfare in this country.

“There is no cultural right to own a horse. Every single member of the Dáil, if you go back two or three generations, they will come from land at some point, where there were horses or horse and carts but we moved on. No one has a God given right to own an animal and certainly if they can’t control it or look after it that animal should be taken from them. The State needs to get far tougher on this.

“For too long we have turned a blind eye to ‘long acre’ grazing and urban ponies. This approach to horse welfare is ludicrous, grossly unfair to the horses and presents a woeful image of our towns and cities. We should not accept owners allowing horses to gallop across open spaces that were intended for our children to play on.

“The 1996 Control of Horses Act very clearly sets out that those who wilfully or recklessly endangers a horse, person or property, who does not adequately keep, feed and water their horse, or whose horse is kept somewhere where it causes nuisance to people or neighbours, can have their horse taken from them and a ban on ownership imposed.

“The legislation is there to crack down on these offenders and it is high time they saw the consequences of their inaction.”