Demand Justice For The Horses Abandoned To Die In Ireland

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Call for Chief Justice of Ireland and the An Garda Síochána Commissioner (the head of Ireland’s National Police Service) to prosecute those who have abandoned dead and injured animals in “The Killing Fields” of West Dublin.

Dogs, cats, goats, and countless horses have been slaughtered or left to die on 80 acres of land owned by the Irish National Asset Management Agency [1]. Reports of animals being beaten and ruthlessly tortured by teenagers and adults have been met with little action from local authorities.

Even after the perpetrators of a pygmy goat slaughter were outright identified by parts of the motorbike they used to run the animals over in 2015, no recriminations followed [1].

The land was once designated for a housing development, which has since stalled, leaving the future ownership of the property in question [2]. Since then, abandoned animals have populated the property. And, while some animal advocacy groups have attempted to care for the abandoned animals, they haven’t been able to curb the violent incidents of animal cruelty that happen almost daily.

The South Dublin County Council has asked for the help of the Dublin City Council in forming a horse welfare working group [3], but a group of caring volunteers has little power to prosecute those guilty of animal cruelty.

Ireland’s animal cruelty laws once dated back to 1876 [4] before they were supplemented in 2014 [5], and have been criticized for being too lax. While cases of horse neglect and starvation originating from local farms have been brought to the court system, individual events of cruelty like those reported in the Killing Fields are rarely investigated.

In order for this killing to stop, law enforcement authorities in West Dublin must enforce current animal cruelty laws and follow up on reports of torture.

Stand by the horses of Ireland, and demand their protection today!