Possible Horse Cull in Ireland..

Fairynuff

Fairynuff

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 March 2004
Messages
4,993
Location
italy
Visit site
without fighting and name calling, can we discuss this? I am pro, what about you?
» Ireland » Other Stories » Email to a friendEmail to AuthorPrint RSS ShareText Size:The Irish Times - Thursday, July 1, 2010One-off horse cull under consideration
SEÁN Mac CONNELL Agriculture Correspondent

A ONE-OFF national cull of unwanted horses to end the current welfare problem will be considered by the Department of Agriculture.

The suggestion came from members of the joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture which discussed the issue of horse welfare yesterday.

Deputy Christy O’Sullivan (FF) said the problem was so acute he would like to see a situation where unwanted horses could be presented for slaughter at no cost to the owners.

He said while he disliked the idea of taxpayers subsidising those who might be cruel to horses, an “amnesty-style” approach might resolve the problem.

Support for such action came from deputies Eamon Scanlon (FF) and Andrew Doyle (FG).

Mr Doyle said people who could afford a 4x4 and a horsebox some years ago now found they could not afford to keep horses and this is the area on which the focus should fall.

Two Dublin deputies, Mary Upton (Lab) and Róisín Shortall (Lab), called for the closure of the monthly Smithfield Horse fair where many of the problems are thought to have begun.

Ms Upton said horses were being sold for as little as €20 each to young urban people who had no land or place to keep them and there were high levels of neglect and cruelty.

Michael Creed (FG) said hundreds of horses in a pitiful state could be seen any day of the week on the outskirts of Dublin and he had witnessed cruelty and neglect in other cities and towns and at horse fairs this year
 
Last edited:
Is there nothing that can be done? Is there no way they (or at least some of them) could be shipped over to england and rehabilitated? Our dog was a rescue dog from ireland, he was days away from being put down in a Dublin pound as I think they only have 7 days, and a charity brought him over here to be with us. I think if there are absolutely too many maybe some should be culled, if it's a question of humane slaughter vs starvation, but not if theres anything that could be done to save them. :'(
 
Its a dreadful thing to have to resort to but if the problems with unwanted and neglected horses are that acute then maybye it is a nessacary evil?


Its not just happening in Ireland either by the sounds of it. A friend of mine went to york sales recently and said the number of horse and ponies going for buttons was horrifying to behold. Not to mention the number of indiscrimanately bred foals and youngsters with bad confirmation etc that will most likely end up in the slaughterhouse!

All very very sad.
 
If it means horses are not suffering because there are too many I guess it is for the best. Lets hope there is another way out but horses welfare is number one priority.
 
I agree with it, but only because I have seen the neglected horses and honestly, for them to be pts is the kind option.
 
I agree something needs to be done, but it is very sad i find it so very upseting. Possibly some of the horses could be rehomed? I would like to see strict laws and restrictions on horse breeding personally. There are far to many horses allready without 1000's more being bred.
 
Sadly I have to say I think it is a good idea:( much better than the poor things left to starve or die of neglect.

icyfreya said:
Is there nothing that can be done? Is there no way they (or at least some of them) could be shipped over to england and rehabilitated? Our dog was a rescue dog from ireland, he was days away from being put down in a Dublin pound as I think they only have 7 days, and a charity brought him over here to be with us. I think if there are absolutely too many maybe some should be culled, if it's a question of humane slaughter vs starvation, but not if theres anything that could be done to save them. :'(
Click to expand...

Sorry, but there are hundreds of unwanted horses in this country already. lots of them go for meat, you only have to visit some sales to see the meat men vulturing around.
 
No, not loading on meat trucks for definate, most of the neglected horses are coloureds, if you get my drift...

They are very skinny, they will either be shot or ethunaised humanely.
 
I'm for it then if it means shooting and putting them to sleep. I'm just agaist the loading on meat trucks for days on end before slaughter.
Sad end for these horses though.. Who's responsable ? Is it due to bad breeding or are these horses wild ?
 
They will end up as meat - how else would they get rid off the bodies?

Can you see the owners though putting their horses forward for this if they are not going to get something out of it? Why would these people give their horses away for free? I can't see it working myself.
 
I agree with the cull on principle but something needs to be put in place to stop the indiscriminate breeding continuing and this situation happening again in another year or two.
If there are such a glut of horses around that their value has shrunk to almost nothing, surely if there is a cull there won't be so many horses around so the value will rise again? This may well make some thick selfish people start breeding again as they will think they can make money at it again....until there are so many horses around that their value becomes nothing again in a couple of years time, and so begins a very vicious circle....?
 
just popped in so will be brief...legal requirement to have all potential stallions graded and all others to be gelded. Make it illegal to keep entire any colt after 1 year old . Licence required for breeding any mare and obligation to breed from only graded and licenced stallions. There must be some way to stop back yard breeding!
 
icyfreya said:
Is there nothing that can be done? Is there no way they (or at least some of them) could be shipped over to england and rehabilitated? Our dog was a rescue dog from ireland, he was days away from being put down in a Dublin pound as I think they only have 7 days, and a charity brought him over here to be with us. I think if there are absolutely too many maybe some should be culled, if it's a question of humane slaughter vs starvation, but not if theres anything that could be done to save them. :'(
Click to expand...
To what end? English rescues are full to bursting too ATM and there are only so many homes to go around.

I'm not pro a cull as such,but it seems the logical step given the situation.
 
Fairynuff said:
just popped in so will be brief...legal requirement to have all potential stallions graded and all others to be gelded. Make it illegal to keep entire any colt after 1 year old . Licence required for breeding any mare and obligation to breed from only graded and licenced stallions. There must be some way to stop back yard breeding!
Click to expand...

So we would then be breeding what-Sports horses only?
There is a place for lower end horses and ponies,many(I would say it is probably most) owners want a nice sensable all rounder not a purpose bred sports horse.
Riding schools will always need the "less classy" animals too.

The problem is no different to race horse breeding-we need them,but are simply breeding far too many.
 
pony stallions could be licenced too. What Im trying to say is that removing the ' he's a stallions cos he's got 2 bawls' brigade from the scene may make it more difficult for some people to have their outgrown pony mare put in foal just because they can. Sorry, Im not explaining myself very well. Feel free to ignore me!
 
Yunalesca said:
To what end? English rescues are full to bursting too ATM and there are only so many homes to go around.

I'm not pro a cull as such,but it seems the logical step given the situation.
Click to expand...

Rescue centers in england have been turning away horses instead of welcoming them with open arms, rescue centers are too full to take anymore and a lot have had to close because of the economic situation.
Shipping them all to England is really not an option..
I think there should be a massive shoot, no meat trucks and long journeys but a quick painless death.
But also agree about the over breeding factor, if there are less horses they will be more expensive but like said, people will get greedy and breed.
This is a never ending circle really, unless something is done to stop back yard breeding.
 
Yunalesca said:
So we would then be breeding what-Sports horses only?
There is a place for lower end horses and ponies,many(I would say it is probably most) owners want a nice sensable all rounder not a purpose bred sports horse.
Riding schools will always need the "less classy" animals too.

The problem is no different to race horse breeding-we need them,but are simply breeding far too many.
Click to expand...

Well said I totally agree with this.
 
I think we will face similar issues here this Winter. The price of hay has gone through the roof (locally big bales have gone from £25 to £60 each this month) rescue centres are full to bursting and we have the credit crunch. I imagine the meat men are rubbing their hands in glee, lots of horses will be offloaded for nothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top