CERTAIN areas of the country recorded zero or almost zero rates of equine seizures while Wexford had the highest rate of rehoming of seized horses and ponies, according to figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the first three quarters of 2018.

Figures supplied to The Irish Field by the Department show that many local authorities nationwide are making efforts to rehome seized horses and ponies where possible.

In 2017, Department figures showed 1,177 horses were seized by local authorities, 94 were reclaimed, 176 rehomed and 903 euthanised from January to September.

In 2018, the Department’s figures for the same period showed that 1,124 equines were seized nationwide, 105 were reclaimed, 213 were rehomed and 792 were euthanised.

For the second successive year, Roscommon recorded no equine seizures at all from January to September. Other county councils recorded just a handful of seizures for the first nine months of the year.

No horses or ponies were seized in Cavan, Clare, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown or Galway City from January to March 2018. From April to June 2018, the one horse seized in Cavan was euthanised while of the seven horses seized in Clare, one was rehomed and the other six were euthanised. One horse was seized in that timeframe in Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown and euthanised while no equines were recorded as seized in Galway City.

Again from July to September 2018, no horses were seized in Cavan, Clare, Mayo and they were joined by Donegal with a clean sheet in this quarter. No equines were recorded as being seized in either Galway City or Galway County in this quarter.

REHOMING RISING

Wexford local authorities has the highest equine re-homing rate among seized equines in the country, with over two-thirds of the horses seized finding new homes. Some 34 equines were seized in Wexford from January to September 2018, 24 were rehomed and just 10 were euthanised. Some 11 Wexford horses were seized in the first quarter and eight were rehomed and again in the second quarter of 2018, 14 equines were seized in Wexford of which 11 were re-homed and another reclaimed by its owner while figures for the third quarter showed this trend continuing with nine equines seized of which four were were re-homed.

First quarter figures for Galway County show that 19 of 33 seized horses and ponies found new homes as did 11 out of 59 seized in South Dublin while a dozen found new homes from 43 seized in Tipperary.

Second quarter figures for Galway County showed this trend continuing with eight of the 27 animals seized rehomed while in Kildare, 11 owners of 22 seized animals reclaimed them and three were rehomed.

The one seized equine in Monaghan during this period was rehomed as were three seized in Offaly while four of the five animals seized in Sligo were rehomed.

Third quarter figures show that of the five equines seized in Carlow, all of them were rehomed. A similar trend was found in Kerry, Offaly and Sligo, where of the two animals seized in Kerry, both were rehomed and the only animal seized in Offaly was also rehomed as was the sole equine seized in Sligo in this timeframe.

Of the 44 seized in Kildare in the third quarter, 38 were reclaimed by owners, three were rehomed and the other three were euthanised. Of the 18 seized in Tipperary, eight were rehomed in the third quarter. In Wicklow, of the seven seized in the third quarter, five were reclaimed by their owners, one was rehomed and one destroyed.

In Leitrim, of the six animals seized in this quarter, five were rehomed and one was euthanised. In Louth, of the nine seized, three found new homes and the other six were destroyed.

(Please note: Figures for the last quarter of 2018 are not available from the Department at present.)