Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the Minister's answer good nor bad. Farmers as we all know are excellent at animal husbandry and they are caring, and they are penalised severely with traceability and everything else. We have seen sulkies driven by horses that tumble upside down on the road and the horses are left there for dead and dying. It happened in Cashel this year, it happened at Horse and Jockey last year and it continues to happen. A blind eye is being turned here because in this case, this particular horse travelled the world and was exploited for money, and when it was no more good it was left in a boghole where it lost its foal and nearly died. Now, the Department is part of a prosecution and wants the person in the sanctuary, who is very sick and traumatised because the criminal gang who had the horse know where the horse is, to hand it back with no fines or penalties. A blind eye is being turned by many agencies to what is happening in this area. Not a week goes by when I do not get an email or contact about sulkies and the abuse of horses on the roads. Some people are exempt but farmers are not. They must be traceable and rightly so. We must be traceable and proper about all animal husbandry and they are, as the Minister said himself, but there is an element out there who can do what they like with their horses, including mistreating and abusing them, and then abuse the people who try to bring them back to health and mind them, who are animal loving people who get no support from local authorities. The animal welfare places get little bits of grants every Christmas.

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