Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the guests. I asked for them to be brought before the committee as part of its agenda because I had seen the work they had done. It came in light of the frequent discovery of abandoned horses in County Tipperary. As the Chairman said, we have seen this in recent years and there was one particular location that kept coming up, although we have seen instances of neglect in various other parts of the county as well. You would have to have the hardest of hearts not to be totally outraged by what has gone on and there are few people who would not be outraged by it but it seems to continue on a daily basis. Various arms of the State are involved in dealing with breaches of animal welfare. These include the Department, local authorities, animal rescue organisations such as MLHR and the Garda. There has to be buy-in from animal owners as well. To get an idea of what is needed to address these ongoing acts of neglect and cruelty, could the witnesses give us a description of what happens and who they contact when they get a call about a horse that has been abandoned or that is in neglect?