MADAM,

IN The Irish Field of January 27th 2018 an article by Isabel Hurley under the heading ‘Vets speak out on food chain issues’, I was somewhat surprised by the comments of Mr Hugh Dillon in which he is quoted as stating; ‘I believe that at the time of registration, the animal should be automatically stamped out’.

I wonder what Mr Dillon has in mind for equines that have issues such as casualty, inability or end of life? In Ireland there are circa 15,000 foals registered each year, and after taking into consideration imports and exports, the annual numbers of equine exiting the system is circa 13,000. If you follow Mr Dillon’s logic, there will be circa 13,000 equines with no exiting route per year. Many owners will not be able to afford to look after their equines, thus leading to unwanted equine crisis.

As already publicised, the cost of collecting and disposal of stray/unwanted equine is circa €2,800 each. If Mr Dillon’s solution was adhered to, in my opinion, it could cost the Irish taxpayer up to €36m per annum and also the loss of circa 100 jobs in this sector.

Also, if all equines were excluded from the food chain to avoid inspection of medicine records by the Department, it would leave an opening for operators to have prohibited unadministered medicines at their premises. If not controlled correctly, these prohibited medicines could or may be used in the bovine section (recent issues in relation to competition bulls), the bovine section is a vital part of the Irish economy.

In recent publications, ‘Bute’ is deemed to be only a temporary solution for pain. Within a few days, the equine may be in pain again and the more common sense approach is to ban ‘Bute’ altogether, plus the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, manufacturers have not disclosed any withdrawal period for this medicine.

In order to safeguard the equine industry and reduce the potential cost to the Irish taxpayer, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, in association with the Veterinary Council of Ireland, should put forward a proposal to the EU to put in place an ante-mortem blood test for all equines entering the food chain in order to ensure food safety and avoid the needless cost to the Irish taxpayer as outlined above.

Yours etc,

John Joe Fitzpatrick

Owner/operator of

Straffan Horse Abbatoir

Co Kildare