Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I raise the issue of horse control. Legislation in Ireland largely falls under the Control of Horses Act 1996. I was sent a photo by an American tourist over the weekend who visited our county. They saw a horse tethered to a metal pole outside a supermarket. This happens all 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 a horse, buy land, rent land or pay for a livery, but do not tie them up outside a supermarket tethered to a pole or leave them to die in a ditch with a ribcage that is hollowed out. It is happening far too often. It paints a poor picture of our country, but more so it is a poor picture for animal welfare. I asked that it be dealt with. There is no cultural tradition. If we go back two or three generations, we will see that the families of every Member of this House, even the most urban Member, come from land where there were horses and carts at one point, but we moved on. No one has a god-given right to own an animal. Certainly, if they cannot control the animal or look after it, the animal should be taken from them. The State has to get far tougher on this.

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