LATEST figures revealed in the Dail show that the problem of unwanted horses and ponies still remains greatest in the country’s major population centres of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.

There has been a plunge in the numbers of seized equines nationwide and the associated costs to local authorities over the five-year period 2013 to 2017.

Despite this, incidences of equine welfare abuse, including the discovery of dead and starving horses, continue to surface with alarming regularity nationwide.

As expected, the capital tops the table, presented by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, to Dail Deputies during a recent question time. Separately, the Minister, responding to questions, said he had no plans to ban either fur farming or foxhunting.

The horse seizure and costs figures for Dublin would be significantly higher if it were not for the Department’s funding of the urban horse schemes, with €500,000 allocated to the Clondalkin project alone.

Dublin City Council spent just €48,920 on 85 horse seizure cases in 2017, a huge drop from the €239,471 they spent on 332 stray horses in 2013.

In 2017, South Dublin County Council spent €71,882 dealing with 176 seized horses but that compares favourably to the €220,583 the Co Council spent in 2013 where they dealt with 322 seizures.

Fingal County Council spent €64,200 dealing with 134 equines in 2017, but that’s down from the 2014 figure of €101,725 spent on 206 equine cases.

Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co Council spent just €2,650 in 2017 on six horses, down significantly on the €41,468 they spent on 61 horses in 2013.

Wicklow County Council spent a high of €186,416 in 2013, dealing with 357 equines but that dropped to just €10,875 in 2017 for 25 horses.

Kildare County Council also saw a four-fold expenditure drop, spending €42,963 on 90 equines in 2017, compared to the €189,945 spent in 2014 dealing with 465 seizure cases.

Cork City and County Council also seems to be making significant inroads.

Cork County Council spent €23,475 on 65 seizures in 2017, compared to €113,993 on 227 horses.

Separate figures were given for Cork City Council which spent €11,950 on 30 cases in 2017, drop from €75,014 spent on 173 equine seizures in 2013.

STARVING

The recent disturbing horse starvation incidents around Clonmel, Co Tipperary, received a strong airing in Thursday’s RTE Ear To The Ground programme.

Tipperary County Council was listed in the table as spending €31,250 on 66 cases in 2017, down from €47,775 in 2016 on 129 cases.

Separate figures were given for Tipperary (North Riding) Co Council which spent €180,201 on 339 horse seizures while, in the same timeframe, Tipperary (South Riding) Co Council spent €161,523 on 297 equine cases.

Limerick City and Council is another to see plunging costs with €56,300 spent on seizing 117 horses in 2017, compared to a high of 202,192 in 2014. However, no figures were provided for the numbers of animals seized that year.

Roscommon County Council was listed as having seized no horses in the three years from 2015-2017. However, in 2013, this local authority spent €106,549 on 235 horses and that dropped to €66,888 for 64 cases in 2014.