Horses found starved to Death on Golf courseIrish Economic Downturn Impacts on AnimalsISPCA Reports Unprecedented Numbers of Calls About HorsesSmithfield Horse MarketDead TBs discovered in Co ArmaghAbandoned and Dying HorsesCROSSKENNAN LANE Press releaseCROSSKENNAN LANE VideoLots of links, lots of shocking stories.
Dead horses, abandoned horses, neglected horses - we all have an image in our head of the animal abuser, but it isn’t always a shady man in a flat cap, waving a stick or counting his money while his creatures starve.
Ignorance, poverty, illness and old age are also factors in neglect, abandonment and death of horses and livestock in modern Ireland.
The boom time is over, the bust is here and some inexperienced and even experienced horsemen and women bit off more than they can chew and are running out of money and options.
It is fact that sales rings and markets are seeing every increasing numbers of horses being left behind when they do not sell.
Sanctuaries are overwhelmed and only a small number of specialist centres have the knowledge and resources to help.
And when dogs and cats are being kicked to the kerb in the financial crisis, large, expensive animals like horses are going to suffer even more.
Still in Ireland, there is a culture which sees men and women, often alone, farming and keeping animals into their twilight years, often without assistance from family members.
Add conditions like dementia into the mix and you have a ticking time bomb of elderly landowners without the money and resources to cope with a large number of animals.
Sons, daughters and well meaning friends and neighbours are often driven away through pride or paranoia – “they’re after my land, my house!” - while animals go without food and water and buildings crumble.
In Northern Ireland, DARD – the Department of Agriculture and Regional Development, are compelled to carry out farm visits at least once a year. Veterinary inspectors are expected to check fields, sheds and the livestock themselves.
Certain clusters of animal cruelty and neglect cases have flagged up concern – piles of dead and emaciated animals do not appear overnight – who is looking out for them?
Indeed, who is looking out for these older landowners and who has the teeth to be able to take them aside and offer to reduce herd numbers or relieve them from responsibility altogether?
All too often it is the USPCA – the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who are in the headlines, going into these farms and smallholdings, exposing what has been going on and ‘saving the day’ – when essentially the organisation has very little power to do anything at all.
Convictions concerning large animals are few and far between and when horses and cattle are dead, they are dead.
This blogger had occasion to call upon that organisation over an emaciated stallion, but as the horse had water and was in a field with grass, no action was ever forthcoming and this older man – who is not approachable at the best of times - continues to buy and sell horses in shocking conditions.
When we can’t even assist our elderly and the struggling, how can we assist their animals?
Who is going to take the lead on educating people on how to properly look after their horses?
