Those responsible for the “abhorrent” treatment of horses, which was revealed in a TV documentary, will face the “full rigours of the law”, the agriculture minister has said.
Charlie McConalogue said the scenes of the mistreatment of horses were “abhorrent and distressing”.
Serious animal welfare abuses were uncovered in an RTÉ Investigates documentary which aired on Wednesday night.
HRI Statement on RTÉ Investigates documentary.
Read More Here: https://t.co/sFCP8tExUx pic.twitter.com/DijuWLl7IN— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) June 12, 2024
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It revealed the mistreatment of horses that are being bred for slaughter at the country’s only equine abattoir, which produces horse meat food for export.
Horse Racing Ireland said it will “actively support” the Department of Agriculture and Garda investigations, and urged anyone with information about mistreatment of horses to report it to gardaí.
The welfare abuse was filmed in a building used by Shannonside Foods Ltd in Straffan, Co Kildare.
Mr McConalogue said an investigation has been launched into the incidents alongside gardaí.
“The scenes we saw last night and the treatment of those horses was abhorrent and distressing. Horses are beautiful, sensitive animals and that was absolutely unacceptable,” Mr McConalogue said.
“It’s certainly not representative of the way that people across this country and those in the industry treat and care for their horses. We already have commenced an investigation in the Department of Agriculture.
“We’ve also requested all of the footage that RTÉ has, and any other evidence as well to make it available to the investigation team.
“Obviously, I would avoid saying anything that might be prejudicial to the conduct of that investigation. But I can assure you and I can assure the public that this will be fully investigated, and that the full rigour of the law will be applied here.
“The law is adequate but what we saw last night was not lawful, and it was breaches of the law.”
The Fianna Fáil minister said there are strict laws in place around the management of what enters the human food chain.
He said that no stone will be left unturned in the investigation.
He said that the traceability of horses has been “significantly improved” over the last 10 years.
“The system in place at European level is an evolving process and we’ve done a lot here in Ireland over the last 10 years,” he added.
Asked whether he can ensure that no horses are being beaten today, the minister said: “You can never be sure that somebody is not mistreating in any avenue of life, but what we have in place is very strict laws and very strict penalties in relation to that.
“What I’m also very sure of is right across our equine industry, that people and everyone involved in that industry are massively respectful and provide tremendous care to the horses – but you can have incidents where people mistreat and break that law.
“Certainly the incidents we saw last night speak to that and the full rigours of the law now will be brought to bear in relation to the evidence that has been brought to this.”
