Council set to destroy seized horses unless owners pay €650 per animal

:HORSES SEIZED from public land in west Dublin could be destroyed from today unless their owners pay a fine of €650 per animal to have them returned.

The owners of the two horses, Alan Murphy (24) and Christopher Casserly (20), both from Clondalkin, say they are willing to pay the fines in instalments but cannot pay upfront.

South Dublin County Council has refused this offer and says the law must implemented as wandering horses are a constant problem.

In one incident last month, 19 horses and ponies seized from public land were destroyed by the council.

The two men and their families have been staging a sit-in at the council offices in Tallaght over the past week, calling for the return of the animals

The horses, both two-year-old cobs, were seized from land at Loughview Road on Monday.

Mr Murphy said he had brought the two animals to the location near his house from Saggart where he had stables and use of the land.

“I just brought them up to wash them and brush them and was just keeping them there overnight. A friend of my dad’s has land in Saggart and we keep the horses there,” he said. “They are in perfect condition. My horse was nearly dead when I got him. A mate bought him for €300 off a Traveller and I brought him back to health. We just didn’t have them chipped yet but we were planning to. We are gutted about this. We’ve told the council we’ll pay the fines but we just can’t come up with that kind of money in one go.”

A spokeswoman for the council said the horses had been impounded in compliance with the Control of Horses Act. “If horses which are seized are not reclaimed within the required timeframe, ie five days, the horses will be disposed of by the contractor.”

She said wandering horses were an ongoing problem and the legislation had to be implemented. She confirmed that the council had rejected the offer of the fine being paid in instalments.

“We did offer to extend the period of detention if a deposit on the fines was paid, but this was not taken up.”

So far this year, 28 of the 40 impounded horses have been disposed of, while last year 33 of the 133 horses seized were disposed of.