Horses in a field near Ongar...

gollyitsolly

Does anyone know who owns the horses in the field near Ongar at the big roundabout? I was driving by today and saw about 30 yobbos chasing them round the field with sticks. Its horrendous to see these animals abused. They have been there for weeks with no shelter,food or water. I heard one of them had their throat slashed a few weeks ago. Why do the authorities allow this kind of thing? Who is in charge of these animals welfare? Or dosent anyone care?

tony 2 tone

Did you try ringing the Fingal COCO or the RSPCA about them?

Shienarier

I agree that notifying the authorities would be a good first step.
If that doesn't work, then you can ask yourself why the authorities
allow this kind of thing.

Gaspode

gollyitsolly wrote: »

Why do the authorities allow this kind of thing?

They dont allow it, but they are under sever pressure resource wise to tackle the problem of urban horses.

gollyitsolly wrote: »

Who is in charge of these animals welfare?

Sadly its probably the yobbos you saw abusing them.

gollyitsolly wrote: »

Or dosent anyone care?

Certainly not the owners anyway.

The only way to deal with this is to keep reporting it to both the DSPCA and Fingal CoCo, and they will react.


It really is time that it became illegal to own a horse if you dont have your own land to put it on, stables, fresh water, and sufficient funds to feed & care for the animals.

kitser

i see guys up there everyday feeding and watering their horses. i go up myself with bags of apples/carrots. Feel free to throw them some of same if you're passing by. 5 euro goes a long way every once in a while.

Diddler1977

kitser wrote: »

i see guys up there everyday feeding and watering their horses. i go up myself with bags of apples/carrots. Feel free to throw them some of same if you're passing by. 5 euro goes a long way every once in a while.

Nice sentiment. But sorry I won't do this - it encourages and enables the keeping of horses on public land.

Gaspode

Not sure if RTE have it on i-player yet but if you can have a look at episode 3 of animal clinic and see some of the conditions these horses are kept in, it's unbelievable.

Bookkeeper09

I also have seen people (presumably the owners) up feeding the horses.
As far as I know that land isnt public...its owned by the developers. Am living in Barnwell at the moment and when I was moving in the foreman told me that the land was owned by the developers and that it was to be used to extend the Barnwell estate.

Polar101

gollyitsolly wrote: »

They have been there for weeks with no shelter,food or water.

They seem to be fed regularly from what I've seen. Not just by people passing by. The horses have been there since last winter, during the "big snow" they put oats (or whatever the horses eat) in a shack near the fence.

GSF

Bookkeeper09 wrote: »

As far as I know that land isnt public...its owned by the developers. Am living in Barnwell at the moment and when I was moving in the foreman told me that the land was owned by the developers and that it was to be used to extend the Barnwell estate.

So it will soon by owned by NAMA in all likelihood

Kev.

Just to give my opinion on this one

The land is owned by Mennolly homes,who built estates and apartments like Allendale. Local politicians are trying to get rid of the horses and are putting severe pressure on them at the moment

The horses are getting looked after ,there is absolutely no abuse going on,they are fed and watered, maybe they could be looked after a bit better but they are getting looked after.
I think it gives the kids something to do and basically keeps them of the streets,

Id love to see something like this done properly with proper funding and think it could really make a difference around the area....

Ozil

Kev. wrote: »

I think it gives the kids something to do and basically keeps them of the streets,

Bullsh1t.

If illegally keeping horses in a field with no shelter is all that's stopping the "kids" from participating in other illegal activies then there is a serious underlying problem with those youths that needs to be tackled.

I nor any of my family, friends, or anyone I know were involved with horses growing up and none of us ever turned to crime. And we also grew up in areas with nothing to do.

Abusing animals (like the horse who's throat was slashed in that very field in ongar, or the gang of youths chasing them with sticks, or tethering them to a pole and driving motorbikes around them to terrify them) and keeping them in poor conditions is not gonna turn these youths into fine upstanding members of society.

Ozil

Kev. wrote: »

there is absolutely no abuse going on

And that bit is definitely bullsh1t.

http://www.davidmcguinness.ie/horses-throat-slashed-in-ongar

If taking a knife to a horses throat and slicing him open to bleed to death is not "abuse" to you, then I dunno what is.

Ozil

Ozil wrote: »

And that bit is definitely bullsh1t.

http://www.davidmcguinness.ie/horses-throat-slashed-in-ongar

If taking a knife to a horses throat and slicing him open to bleed to death is not "abuse" to you, then I dunno what is.

That would be the minority. One in particular. Who I know by name and is in court for that (among other charges) <SNIP>



Mod edit: Dojojoe, had to remove that, you cant make such comments about someone especially when they can be so easily identified.

Diddler1977

Kev. wrote: »

I think it gives the kids something to do and basically keeps them of the streets,

...

It doesn't keep them off the streets. As a pedestrian on the Ongar Road I have been given the shock of my life seeing a horse charging for me riden by a young lad who did not look like he was in control of the animal.

I also saw a near accident another day as one of these horses crossed the road dangerously among fast traffic - again ridden by someone who did not look in control of the horse.

Teenagers keeping horses like this is not something positive for the area.

amdublin

Kev. wrote: »

Just to give my opinion on this one

The land is owned by Mennolly homes,who built estates and apartments like Allendale. Local politicians are trying to get rid of the horses and are putting severe pressure on them at the moment

The horses are getting looked after ,there is absolutely no abuse going on,they are fed and watered, maybe they could be looked after a bit better but they are getting looked after.
I think it gives the kids something to do and basically keeps them of the streets,

Id love to see something like this done properly with proper funding and think it could really make a difference around the area....

There are a load of things that a teenager could do around the D15 area and now you want to give them horses???

Amongst other stuff:
Blanch library - free books (teen graphic novels/teen managa books), free dvds, cds, free lectures/talks and free internet access
The NAC
The Leisureplex - Qzar, pool, bowling
The cinema
Blanchardstown Youth Centre in Blanch village - The youth cafe
Draoicht
The allotments near Clonsilla train station
Loads of green spaces for football
The skateboard park thingie near Coolmine school
Coolmine swimming pool

Diddler1977

amdublin wrote: »

There are a load of things that a teenager could do around the D15 area and now you want to give them horses???

Amongst other stuff:
Blanch library - free books (teen graphic novels/teen managa books), free dvds, cds, free lectures/talks and free internet access
The NAC
The Leisureplex - Qzar, pool, bowling
The cinema
Blanchardstown Youth Centre in Blanch village - The youth cafe
Draoicht
The allotments near Clonsilla train station
Loads of green spaces for football
The skateboard park thingie near Coolmine school
Coolmine swimming pool

As well as
Farmleigh House
Fishing in the canal
Cycling along the cycle lanes
Verona Soccer Club
Numerous GAA clubs
Dance Workshops in Draiocht
The local youth Centres run lots of different activities including cooking courses, etc.
Kayak Club at Strawberry Beds
Horse Riding at Ashtown (safe & fully insured)
The Pound is looking for volunteer dog walkers
Martial Arts in Coolmine Leisure Centre
Numerous Greens for kicking a ball around

amdublin

Diddler1977 wrote: »

As well as
Kayak Club at Strawberry Beds

Two kayak clubs - Wild Water and the Irish Canoe Union
Ashtown castle in the Phoenix Park
Free tours of Aras an Uachtarain in the park
Dublin zoo
Rollerblading in the park
Free tennis courts - one behind Superquinn plus one near Luttrellstown/Laurel lodge in an estate
New park/playground/football pitches behind Clonsilla train station

Gaspode

Kev. wrote: »

Id love to see something like this done properly with proper funding and think it could really make a difference around the area....

You're missing the point Kev - if someone wants to keep horses then they should be in a position to fund that themselves. If they dont have the money, they dont get to keep a horse, end of.

It's not up to the taxpayer to provide free public land for them, and have public employees paid to clean up after these guys. That's what happens.

Rojo25

I think the horses are owned by the yobs in question, the horses were probably bought in Smithfield or by travellers and then brought to this big open area near Ongar.

Do see kids from nearby estates in there rallying around on the horses, it is cruel and inhumane for the horses to be kept like this,no shelter from any weather conditions, slack of food, nowhere for horses to sleep, industrial waste everywhere that the horses could injure themselves on.

Something needs be done

Diddler1977

Rojo25 wrote: »

Something needs be done

I intend to contact DSPCA on Monday.

This problem is becoming rampant. I saw more youths on horses in the Phoenix Park today as I was driving home. One lad was on the main road, on a horse with no saddle, whipping the horse with the reins to move the horse on to the path. It was sickening.

amdublin

Yesterday and today nobody was with those horses. (I passed at numerous times during both days).

On weekend days and good weather days people who invested and bought their horses and have them in proper facilities cannot spend enough time with their horses. They are taking them out for a exercise/canter and then grooming them and cleaning the stables for the whole day.

These kids buy them for next to nothing and abandon them when they are bored with them. The poor horses.

Polar101

If the land in question isn't public, why are the horses still there? Clearly if the relevant authorities were going to do something about this, they would have had plenty of time to do so already.

Nijmegen

I went for a walk up that way, passing by the new schools they're building on the now closed road up to Ongar, and was slack jawed at the sight of the horses. Horses and other animals like them should be kept in well maintained, proper facilities.

Out there, they are vulnerable to random abuse and they can be a danger to the passing public and traffic.

It's also worthy of noting that in the CoCo letter referenced in the above link, they mention having to remove dead horses from sites and the likelyhood that some animals will have to be put down as they are too sick or maltreated to continue to live.

Diddler1977

If you want to contact the DSPCA
http://www.dspca.ie/prevent_cruelty_to_animals.php?number=65&sectionnumber=1

Kiya

Anyone know what happened to them as I couldn’t see any in the fields yesterday?!? Bit concerned.


I had been writing this to post, so might as well post it up.

Those horses are in a dangerous environment. Some are injured and bleeding from open wounds. Others are so thin you can quite clearly see their ribs, spinal column etc. And I've seen some skinny thoroughbreds in my time and these horses are starving.
YES a few guys are up daily with a small bucket or 2 for them, but 2 buckets of carrots is not enough feed for 12 starving horses. 12 horses, sometimes 13 being fed with 2 buckets of food!
All the grass in the field is long gone having been grazed to non existence and there’s not enough growth to sustain that amount of horses...

They have no shelter to speak of, a few sheets of corrugated rusted iron nailed to a tree does not constitute shelter.

I personally have been ringing the following organisations weekly for the last 2 months: Gardai, DSCPA, Fingal Council, Manor Park, Management committee.

To be informed that "there are no spaces for horses in any of the rescue centres", "that its nothing to do with the council, Management committee, Manor park" etc etc and thank you Gardai, "if you feel that strongly about it, then why don’t you feed the horses?". Sickening responses.

Also, just to say that if people want to keep horses then I've no problem with it, as from personal experience I think that if a kid is interested and well supervised by adults, then it will teach them responsibility. Most of these kids love their horses.
BUT THESE guys who “own” the horses in Ongar are not kids, most I’ve seen are late teens, early 20’s & should know better.

I grew up in Tallaght where the locals fundraised and built a shelter for the horses and kept them well fed. Local parents made sure that the kids involved would muck out stables before school and these kids have grown up to be caring adults.
They now run the riding school themselves and the horses there are very well loved & cared for.

I remember when it first started that the kids would mow the grass in the area to bring it back to the horses. Now that’s initiative!

Look how far these rough kids from a poor area how come, before you start generalising: http://connect.southdublin.ie/fyhp/

oblivious

Kiya wrote: »

BUT THESE guys who “own” the horses in Ongar are not kids, most I’ve seen are late teens, early 20’s & should know better.

An some well of enough to be driving late 2000's BMW's

Kiya wrote: »

I grew up in Tallaght where the locals fundraised and built a shelter for the horses and kept them well fed. Local parents made sure that the kids involved would muck out stables before school and these kids have grown up to be caring adults.
They now run the riding school themselves and the horses there are very well loved & cared for.

Far enough but these are not local kids/people Ongar people they are coming from estates much further down the Ongar roads,

ongarboy

Yes, I also think it's a disgrace the way those poor animals are treated. It is disheartening to hear the responses back from the official organisations from some of you good enough to proactively complain/object about this sad situation. The only thing I suggest is to keep onto your local councillors/TDs/Elected representatives about this as they can influence local area policy.The footpaths in the area are also being fouled on a daily basis so pedestrians are having to watch their step (obviously not blaming the horses for that) but it is also an environmental/health and safety issue for the public. Surely the same laws for dog fouling should apply for horse owners?

wildlifeman

I sent an email pointing to this thread to david.mcguinness@fingalcoco.ie

a local representative for Fianna Fail.

jack presley

wildlifeman wrote: »

I sent an email pointing to this thread to david.mcguinness@fingalcoco.ie

a local representative for Fianna Fail.

There's no local election on for the next few years. Politicians won't show any interest until the next one's around the corner.

The only response I got from this particular councillor to a complaint/query (I can't remember which) I had was an invitation to have him as a friend on Facebook. What's worse his invite email he didn't BCC the email list - so basically everybody who sent him an email over the past while had their email address sent around for everyone to see. Good work councillor!