Judith Faherty

THE owners of 29 horses and ponies seized on unregistered lands in the wetlands area of Kilkenny on Wednesday, February 17th, have five days to claim their animals before they are put to sleep.

As part of a multi-agency operation, the animals were removed from the land by An Garda Síochána, the Department of Agriculture and the Revenue Customs Services, as part of Operation Storm which took place in Kilkenny and also involved community Gardaí mounting special checkpoints to help the public protect their property.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told The Irish Field that owners have five days to reclaim their horses on presentation of a valid Equine Passport and evidence that their premises is registered with the Department of Agriculture to Kilkenny Garda station. It is believed that the horses were removed to a safe environment.

Under current legislation, all equines must be kept on a registered equine premises, be identified with a valid equine passport and, if identified after July 1st, 2009, they must be microchipped.