AS THE horse industry moved yesterday to address problems in equine welfare, organisations for the protection of animals predicted that thousands more horses could die in Ireland this winter.
Horse Sport Ireland, Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association announced at the Fáilte Ireland Horse Show they had formed a working group to devise an appropriate industry response to a recently published report on horse welfare.
That report, Challenges and Solutions to Support Good Equine Welfare Practice in Ireland, by researchers at University College Dublin, calls for major reforms in the sector.
These include more traceability and accountability in the sector, and a call for local authorities to have more legislative powers conferred by the Control of Horses Act, 1996, all actions supported by the group.
The report also calls for a more co-ordinated and proactive approach to the keeping of horses.
“Horse welfare is an issue that all of us in the equestrian sector are concerned about and we need to see what measures we can take to reduce the problem,” said Horse Sport Ireland chairman Joe Walsh. “It is particularly important the thoroughbred and sport horse sector take a united approach.”
But as the working group made its announcement, the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals predicted many more horses would die of starvation and neglect this coming winter.
“There is only eight more weeks of grass left and the problems which were there last year still remain,” a spokeswoman said. “For instance, two more horses died today and we expect hundreds if not thousands to die this winter.”
She said the ending of the grass season in Dublin would increase the pressure on the many animals in the city poor condition and in need of veterinary attention.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it had received 400 complaints about horse mistreatment in 2008, and this had soared to 1,142 in 2009, as the recession had resulted in increased neglect.
And in the first six months of this year, it had received another 1,124 complaints, which represented a 100 per cent increase on an already bad situation last year, said Barbara Bent, chairwoman of the society.
“What you have is the overproduction of low-value horses, and we are in for a hell of a winter because horses that are weakened and emaciated now are not going to make it through,” she said.
The working group will have its first meeting on August 20th and will produce its findings by October 31st.
Mr Walsh, a former minister for agriculture and food, called for a balanced debate on the issue. While there were no doubt problems, and some horses were being abandoned and mistreated, the vast majority of horses were well cared for by their owners, he said.
He said that while there was a huge amount of good work being done by charities, the industry needed to look at measures to reduce the problem.
“The rescue organisations do a super job but the real challenge is to try and reduce the number of welfare cases and this is where I would see this group focusing its efforts,” he said.
One area he expected the group to focus on was traceability, as it was important that owners could be held accountable if they abandoned or mistreated their horses, he added.
Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association manager Shane O’Dwyer welcomed the fact there was industry support across all sectors to study the recommendations of the recent UCD review.
The report, published in June, was co-written by Joe Collins, Alison Hanlon, Simon More, Patrick Wall and Vivienne Duggan.