THERE was a large attendance at this week’s Equine Welfare Seminar, hosted at the Irish National Stud and chaired by editor of The Irish Field, Leo Powell.

It’s clear from Lissa Oliver’s report (see A15), that equine welfare is a concern that affects everyone and every sector of the Irish racing and sport horse industry and it may be unpopular to say it, but much of the responsibility for equine welfare breaches and neglect falls more to the sport horse industry with all the varying levels it encompasses right through from donkeys, ponies, cobs to horses.

In this regard, we must all step up to the plate and make sure we meet our responsibilities and encourage others around us to do likewise.

Horses, donkeys and ponies can have a lifespan of 30 plus years and along the way, a certain percentage will inevitably fall into cracks.

This week an elderly bachelor farmer (80) in Co Clare found himself in court pleading guilty to animal neglect charges after Department of Agriculture inspectors found eight dead horses on his farm and 46 on two parcels of land, some emaciated.

The State’s expenses in the case totalled almost €15,000 and an order was made attaching those costs to the land in question. The court heard that the elderly man, who needs a walking stick, was “incapable of asking for help in looking after the animals”.

In recent weeks, we have all seen growing appeals for emergency funding from various rescue bodies, from Meath to Donegal, looking for the public’s financial help to enable what are effectively home-grown rescue operations look after rising numbers of horses, ponies and donkeys. Well-meaning people start up rescue operations on a small basis and then find themselves being called on to cope as ever-increasing numbers arrive on their doorstep.

Owners need to take proper responsibilty for the animals under their care or just don’t have them, it’s as simple as that. Sell them if that’s an option, give them away to a person or organisation who undertakes to properly care for them.

Simply dumping animals rather than putting them down or putting them through the factory system is actually the worst kind of cowardice and cruelty.

For those of you who remain unconvinced of either the argument or the scale of the problem, friends of mine are caring for a small grey pony mare, believed to be in her 20s, found running loose on a public road in Co Meath a few weeks ago. She was very thin and a scan revealed she had no microchip. She’s now recovering well, putting on weight and is loving life.

Her origin may always remain a mystery but one thing is absolutely certain in her case, she’s a cute old family pony. Undoubtedly, she was somebody’s childhood pony at some stage. She appears to have been dumped off at a piece of nearby common land and simply left to fend for herself over the winter before starvation drove her out on to the roads in search of food, water and shelter.

As a community, we need a new policy towards such wanton neglect and disgusting cruelty – it’s called Zero Tolerance.