'I'm sick of hearing from Travellers about how much they love animals,' says councillor
'Last week I was sent a video of a young lad with a dog tied to his bicycle, flying down the road, practically dragging the dog behind him.'
A Tipperary councillor has criticised animal abuse by certain members of the Travelling community after a video of a pony in distress was shared on social media by My Lovely Horse Rescue.
The animal rescue charity posted the video (watch the video below) and said: “This poor young pony, barely a year old, wandering along the road…SHOES ON.
"Young ponies should not be shod, they are still growing, their poor legs wrecked!
"We’ve had five-month-old babies come into our care with shoes on, shoes so badly put on that it’s actually criminal. When does this stop?!
"Beautiful animals wandering roads not knowing what is next for them. Most only face cruelty and neglect. We go through this heartbreak every day, we are fighting for all animals every day. Soul destroying, but WE WILL NOT STOP."
Cashel-based Cllr Liam Browne said: "Tipperary County Council have a lot to answer for in this regard. I'm sick of hearing from members of the Travelling community telling me about how much they love animals, and then seeing these videos.
"Last week I was sent a video of a young lad with a dog tied to his bicycle, flying down the road, practically dragging the dog behind him.
"And for reference, if anyone, in any community, treated an animal like this, they should have the animals taken off them and face charges of cruelty to animals.
"I'm mentioning the Travelling community in this post because, in this case, it's part of their community responsible. Disgusting to look at."
He continued: "Just to be clear, a few people have contacted me privately about a post I put up regarding the abuse of animals at Wallers Lot.
"I've had to listen to the same old nonsense about ‘not tarring everyone with the same brush’. I've had to listen to nonsense about ‘racism’, ‘ethnic minorities’, ‘culture’.
"Let me be clear…I'm sick of listening to that, sick to the back teeth of it. I don't care who you are, or what ‘community’ you come from, or who you claim to represent. If you abuse an animal, you should be ashamed of yourself.
"If you try to claim ‘ethnic entitlement’, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you accuse me of ‘racism’, you should be ashamed of yourself.
"If you've an issue with that, don't call me out in private, call me out in public. I'll happily debate it in any forum."