Neglected rogue horses chased OAPs
THE crisis in animal wefare is accelerating to such an extent that horses in urban settings are now depending on scraps from litter bins, a TD has warned.
Deputy Emer Higgins made the claim as Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue pointed out that record funding had been allocated to deal with animal welfare issues in 2019.
Ms Higgins said Ireland is facing an ‘equine crisis’ and funding which protects horses on a sevenday-week basis is required.
The Fine Gael TD told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Mistreatment of horses is a year-on-year problem but this year is particularly bad. It is very much an escalating issue.’
Commenting on conditions within her constituency of Dublin Mid-West, she said: ‘In one field recently, 14 horses were sifting through litter looking for scraps to feed on.’
Responding to queries from Ms Higgins, Mr McConalogue insisted his department dedicates a ‘substantial level’ of resources to animal welfare.
In December 2019, he said, the Department of Agriculture ‘announced the largest ever allocation of funding of €2.9m to 106 animal welfare organisations, a number of which undertake work with equines’.
Regarding the urban horse issue, the Minister said his department ‘continued to support a number of urban horse projects nationwide, bringing education on all aspects of equine welfare to disadvantaged areas’.
He also pointed to supports for castration clinics and education programmes designed to address the problem of over-breeding which can add to welfare issues.
However, Ms Higgins warned that further funding was needed, especially for charities.
She said: ‘Horse welfare is not just for weekdays. I am looking for funding particularly for voluntary groups, such as the My Lovely Horse charity, which are available on a front-line basis seven days a week. It is critical funding be allocated to charities that work weekends.’
Another Dublin TD said: ‘Wild horses are a perennial problem. There was a crisis on one occasion recently when a few realised that shopping bags contained quite a few goodies. They started chasing after pensioners especially. There were quite a few squabbles between horses and pensioners until we nabbed the rogue horses.’
Another TD added: ‘A big problem is that there is a false romanticism about wild horses: like the film Into The West. But there is little romance when it comes to feral horses. There is a lot more pertaining to animal cruelty.’
Responding to Ms Higgins, Mr McConalogue also pledged that the Government would ‘provide additional urban horse welfare programmes’.
Under the Control of Horses Act 1996, local authorities may take a range of actions, including restricting horses’ movements, issuing licences and seizing horses. These powers can be used in respect of horses straying onto land without the owner’s permission, including public land.
Ms Higgins said: ‘We want to respect the role of horses in the lives of people but also ensure that people take care of horses.’
‘There’s little romance around feral horses’