IN the Irish Horse World section of the first issue of The Irish Field in 2018, editor Isabel Hurley reported on the latest figures regarding the number of horses and ponies seized in the State during the previous 12 months.

Of the 1,177 animals taken in by local Councils, less than 10% of them (94) were reclaimed while 176 were rehomed. This meant that 903 horses or ponies were put down at a rate of almost three a day. Hurley wrote: “The cost to local authorities and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of dealing with unwanted horses and ponies seized under the Control of Horses Act 1996 stands at €4.5 from 2014-2017.