Charity pushes for horse warden
Cork city is in desperate need of a dedicated horse warden to help tackle the horrific animal cruelty taking place on Leeside.
That’s according to My Lovely Horse Cork rescue volunteer Kelly Mellerick who said those guilty of mistreating horses must be held accountable and receive fines for their crimes.
Speaking to the Cork Independent, Ms Mellerick said Cork City Council should have its own veterinary department rather than relying on Cork County Council.
She said rescue volunteers in the city, who cannot legally seize an animal, currently rely on an already over-stretched garda force to help deal with incidents involving a hurt or stray animal.
Ms Mellerick said: “We are pushing for a horse warden and veterinary officer within Cork City Council remit. Get them out there and get a presence known.”
She continued: “There is a surplus of horses and ponies in the city. As a result, they're not getting adequate care and are not kept in adequate facilities, so we are seeing more injured animals that got caught on barbed wire. They're trying to get better grazing, they're trying to feed themselves, so they're wandering into hazardous areas and getting injured.”
Ms Mellerick also said that the seizure of animals from owners often just leads to those animals being replaced almost immediately, with no fine or deterrent for the owner.
She said: “It's extremely easy. You can take as many horses as you like off one section of land and they will refill it again in a blink.”
In 2014, gardaí, accompanied by officials from the Department of Agriculture and a private security company, undertook a raid dubbed ‘Operation Capall’ in the northside of the city, resulting in the seizure of more than 70 horses. Ms Mellerick said the land from which the horses were seized is now full of horses again, “like it never happened”.
Ms Mellerick’s comments come following a call from Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, to the Department of Agriculture and Cork City Council to work together to tackle horse welfare in the city.
Deputy Gould said that figures released to him by the department show that 477 horses were seized in Cork in 2021, a drastic decline since 2017 when 1,603 horses were seized.
He said: “Unfortunately, these figures do not reflect the reality on the ground. Regularly, I am contacted by people who are witnessing horrific treatment of horses across Cork city. The reality is that the resources are just not there to tackle the problem.”