Whipping of Horses on Ballyloughnane Beach, Renmore

crally

hi

I heard an article on Galway Bay about horses being whipped by their owner as they did not run fast enought on the beach. one horse seemingly just stood still and was whipped constantly. i have mailed the dept of environment in galway and asked what is being done about this. can the gardai intervene. why is it ok to whip an animal, in broad daylight and seemingly this has been going on for a quite a while.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Xiney

Because the gardai, the dept of environment, and the SPCA all pass the buck when it comes to travellers mistreating animals.

biko

Galway -> Animals

fergiesfolly

So, who ultimately has responsibility in these cases. I rang the gardai and SPCA about horses running loose in ballybane in Galway and neither wanted to sort it. Really frustrating !!

Xiney

fergiesfolly wrote: »

So, who ultimately has responsibility in these cases. I rang the gardai and SPCA about horses running loose in ballybane in Galway and neither wanted to sort it. Really frustrating !!

Nobody takes responsibility for them. One horse in particular was so skinny you could see his spine - even when I pointed out that I was being passed around in circles and that nobody was taking the poor horse out of that situation nobody wanted to hear about it.

Maja

Xiney wrote: »

Nobody takes responsibility for them. One horse in particular was so skinny you could see his spine - even when I pointed out that I was being passed around in circles and that nobody was taking the poor horse out of that situation nobody wanted to hear about it.

This is unbelivable, this and dumped dog and all what i see around...
:mad:

Wisco

See it on a very frequent basis in Kilkenny...trotters being whipped around the ring road and nothing ever done.
As for welfare stuff... seems to me that no one wants to enforce the rather wimpy laws here in Ireland... and when they do get enforced, the penalties are not what I would call severe.
Disgusting.

onemorechance

"
The Inspectorate provide a service in the following counties
1. Wicklow, Monaghan and Clare
2. Carlow, Kildare, Offaly, Laois and Meath
3. Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim North
4. Longford, Roscommon and Leitrim South
5. Cork"

"If you suspect that an animal is being subjected to cruel treatment, please contact our ISPCA Nationwide Animal Cruelty Helpline on 1890 515 515 and help us stop the mistreatment of animals."

"We ask callers who do not get to speak to the Helpline Co-Ordinator to leave a brief message with name and phone number. The Helpline Co-Ordinator will return the call.
It’s true, our National Animal Cruelty Helpline is very busy - in fact we received approximately 6,000 calls in 2008.

On one hand, this is a good thing because it means many members of the public are using this service to report cruelty to animals which, of course, means that we are able to rescue and re-home many animals that need our help. However, there is a downside to this: the service has become so inundated with calls in recent years.

This is why we need the committed financial support of all of our supporters to enable us to continue this vital work."


"

The ISPCA has 5 full-time Animal Welfare Inspectors at present. The Inspectors respond to allegations of cruelty and reports of sick and injured animals in a total of 12 counties.The ISPCA Animal Welfare Inspectorate provides an extremely valuable service around the country. Our operations assist animals, members of the public and statutory bodies. ISPCA Inspectors often filter and dilute the work of Gardai and other enforcement agencies such as DAFF by initially investigating allegations of breaches of legislation and determining whether the involvement of other agencies is required. On the vast majority of occasions our officers find a solution to any problems by working with the owner of the animal(s) involved.

The public have become more aware of animal welfare and intolerant of what they perceive to be cruelty or neglect. Consequently, the volume of calls to the ISPCA has increased and continues to rise. At present, the small numbers of Inspectors we have are stretched beyond their limits and we are unable to provide a full-time presence in many areas.

In order to ensure that reports and queries from members of the public are disseminated appropriately the ISPCA operates a “National Animal Helpline 1890 515 515” at our Head Office in Keenagh, Co. Longford.

If you discover an animal in distress or want to report a case of suspected cruelty please call our National Cruelty Helpline Locall 1890 515 515."

Discodog

onemorechance wrote: »

"
It’s true, our National Animal Cruelty Helpline is very busy - in fact we received approximately 6,000 calls in 2008.

And according to their site they instigated 100 prosecutions over a three year period. So about 33 per year which equates to one per 180 calls. So the chance of getting someone prosecuted for hitting a horse is practically zero.

onemorechance

Discodog wrote: »

And according to their site they instigated 100 prosecutions over a three year period. So about 33 per year which equates to one per 180 calls. So the chance of getting someone prosecuted for hitting a horse is practically zero.

In Galway it's probably close to zero as they do not operate there. They do seem to be doing good work with the resouces they have and are improving all the time. They will need donations and volunteers to keep it up. I'm gonna enquire about that horse they have up, might get on with our donkeys!

shivs

onemorechance wrote: »

In Galway it's probably close to zero as they do not operate there. They do seem to be doing good work with the resouces they have and are improving all the time. They will need donations and volunteers to keep it up. I'm gonna enquire about that horse they have up, might get on with our donkeys!

That is shameful. I think the volunteers do such an amazing job on very limited funds, most is goodwill.
Hardly surprising tho.........there aren't enough resources to catch speeding (crappy) drivers (on the main Cork-Galway road) - so they're hardly going to patrol Ballyloughane,.

planetX

Wisco wrote: »

See it on a very frequent basis in Kilkenny...trotters being whipped around the ring road and nothing ever done.
As for welfare stuff... seems to me that no one wants to enforce the rather wimpy laws here in Ireland... and when they do get enforced, the penalties are not what I would call severe.
Disgusting.

same on the Headford road in Galway. Not to mention that they are a severe hazard on the road, and still nothing done to stop them.

You'd probably get further with your complaint if you complain about horses actually being on the beach, I don't think they're allowed anyway.

Discodog

I think that it goes in circles. Someone reports an incident & the GSPCA investigate. They have one inspector who works three days per week & covers a huge area so there will be delays. Even when the inspector attends they probably won't call the Guards & the Gardai will not see it as important. Because the law won't back the inspector the inspector doesn't bother calling the Guards.

In the UK the RSPCA will attend very quickly. They will call the Police who will attend & arrest if appropriate. It is likely that the attending Police will be animal lovers & often the Police act without the RSPCA - it's not difficult to spot cruelty.

Nothing here will change unless you find a way to change the ingrained attitude of the Irish population. The depressing part is I don't see any likelihood of attitudes changing soon. The Greens were lambasted for putting dogs ahead of people with the Dog breeding Bill & the same will happen with the proposed Animal Welfare Bill.

crally

i have done a bit of reseach and this is a reply I recieved:

However the 1911 Act states that it is illegal to beat a horse – so if a person sees this they should phone the Gardai to get them out asap to the location and the Garda can then follow up to try for prosecution but the witness has to be prepared to go to court

I don’t know what you could do to help… – hastle your local TDs re getting the Animal Welfare Bill through, hastle the Department of Agriculture (they have vets in all areas and they should help deal with situations private land), The Dept of Environment who should help deal with horses on public land . Also hastle the gardai who have powers under both the Control of Horses (stray horses) and the old 1911 Act to deal with owners.

convert

crally wrote: »

i have done a bit of reseach and this is a reply I recieved:

However the 1911 Act states that it is illegal to beat a horse – so if a person sees this they should phone the Gardai to get them out asap to the location and the Garda can then follow up to try for prosecution but the witness has to be prepared to go to court

I don’t know what you could do to help… – hastle your local TDs re getting the Animal Welfare Bill through, hastle the Department of Agriculture (they have vets in all areas and they should help deal with situations private land), The Dept of Environment who should help deal with horses on public land . Also hastle the gardai who have powers under both the Control of Horses (stray horses) and the old 1911 Act to deal with owners.

Have you a link to where you got that info?

convert

I really don't get why people would mistreat their horses, or leave them to wander around the place. Obviously horses can break out of the yard or field, it happens, but not fencing the paddock or yard appropriately is just irresponsible. As for leaving the horses in bare fields with very little to eat, and not substituting the lack of grass with hay or something similar is just lazy and inconsiderate. Horses are extremely kind and generous, and not to repay them by caring for them with consideration for that is awful. I've seen so many horses around that are just so thin, it's awful. And worse still is the ignorance or carelessness of their owners to their poor condition.

As with anything, if you're not prepared or able to look after your animals, whether horses, dogs, cats, fish, cattle, reptiles, etc., etc., properly, then you shouldn't have them.

Galway K9

Xiney wrote: »

Because the gardai, the dept of environment, and the SPCA all pass the buck when it comes to travellers mistreating animals.

Xiney well put!!:)

Just an issue that bothers me being from Galway and not pointing any fingers on any user of the entire forum, but when it comes to the Galway Races, people turn into hypocrits and go betting and animal rights go out the f****** window!

I had panic attacks over a duration of 2 hours first time i went to the races after what i saw and heard. "This country makes me sick! And im ashamed to be irish and resent the so called Authorities!"

Anyways nothing i can do so have to live int he present moment and continue loving life.

Discodog

The 1911 Act is a general animal protection act & is not specific to horses. The law states that:

1.-(1) If any person –
(a) shall cruelly beat, kick, ill-treat, over-ride, over-drive, over-load, tortue, infuriate or terrify any animal, or shall cause or procure, or, being the owner, permit any animal to be so used, or shall, by wantonly or unreasonably doing or omitting to do any act, or causing or procuring the commission or omission of any act, cause any unnecessary suffering, or, being the owner, permit any unnecessary suffering to be so caused to any animal.

It is the basis of all our animal welfare law but getting the Guards to act on it is a different matter. Newer legislation has been passed regarding horses but the 1911 Act is the relevant law regarding cruelty.

People get confused as to who "deals" with cruelty cases. It is always the Guards. The ISPCA & local SPCA's have no legal power.

Discodog

Galway K9 wrote: »

Xiney well put!!:)

Just an issue that bothers me being from Galway and not pointing any fingers on any user of the entire forum, but when it comes to the Galway Races, people turn into hypocrits and go betting and animal rights go out the f****** window!

And everyone who goes for a "great night out" at the dogs ignoring the fact that 10,000 Greyhounds are killed every year for this "sport".

Galway K9

Discodog wrote: »

And everyone who goes for a "great night out" at the dogs ignoring the fact that 10,000 Greyhounds are killed every year for this "sport".

Thanks for the correction DiscoDog how could i forget the Greyhounds!