THE pitiful photographs taken by the ISPCA of the final awful days of two racehorses, who had graced the winners’ enclosure in faded glory days, only to end up starving in the animal charity’s biggest rescue case to date, must serve as a major wake-up call to the entire Irish equine industry.

Many will rightfully find the photographs of the dying emaciated former winners published on page 91 hard to stomach as they so graphically illustrate the extent of the horses’ unecessary suffering at the end of their careers. They were found clinging to life by Gardai and the ISPCA, they stayed on their feet long enough for such lonely photographs to be taken, a telling testament which cannot and should not be ignored.