Animal cruelty: Mistreated horse dumped like rubbish

A HORSE covered in open wounds was dumped on the side of the road like rubbish and left to die by its owners.

A source told the Limerick Leader that the State stepped in to put the animal out of its misery.

Gardai in Tipperary were contacted by a motorist who spotted the animal suffering on a road near Emly - just over the Limerick border. Gardai got in touch with Tipperary County Council. ACS - the company that run Cork Horse Pound - and a vet were also contacted. The animal was subsequently put to sleep by the vet and carcass removed on Bank Holiday Sunday

The Leader was subsequently rang by a local, who is sick of seeing this happen.

“These horrible cases need to be highlighted. It’s bad enough people dumping couches and washing machines but this was a poor live animal that was in a lot of pain. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.

“The general poor behaviour of horse owners in urban areas is on the rise. These people consider it their right or a cultural necessity to keep horses but welfare is often an issue and the majority non-horse owning public are often victims of intimidation if they complain,” said the source.

The law states that all horses in Ireland must be microchipped but like so many this one wasn’t.

“In the same way that if somebody doesn’t leave their details in a bag of rubbish when they dump it in the countryside, it is very hard to prosecute those who dump mistreated horses or ponies that aren’t chipped,” said the source.

The horse had multiple open wounds including one huge one on its back which the Leader has declined to publish. The severe loss of skin was either caused by burns or more likely a trotting or sulky accident, said the source.

“The callousness of somebody to let this horse suffer instead of putting it out of its misery is unimaginable. Something needs to be done as this is just going to continue with more animals needlessly suffering and the state quietly picking up the tab,” they concluded.

Anybody who has information about the horse that was dumped or may have seen the people unloading the animal on the side of the road in Emly are asked to contact Tipperary gardai, who are investigating this animal cruelty case, on 062 80670.