A young horse, which was scared of being loaded into a horsebox, was allegedly so cruelly beaten and dragged that it fell and sustained injuries that led to it being put down, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Maurice Stokes, the halting site, Knocknaheeny, Cork, yesterday denied cruelly beating and ill-treating a three-year-old bay horse on September 23rd, 2003, at Carrignafoy in Cork.
Ms Lea Downing and her mother Deirdre told Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday of their shock and horror at witnessing the cruel manner in which the accused and the owner of the horse Mr John Kiely attempted to load the young filly into a horse-box.
Ms Downing said she, her mother and a younger sister noticed a young horse "obviously distressed, bucking and rearing" as it was being led by two men out of a field towards a horse box. In her testimony she said Mr Stokes was pulling the horse by a rope around its neck, while Mr Kiely was pushing the animal from the rear.
She said she saw Mr Kiely catch and lift the gate of the field and violently ram it into the terrified horse's hindquarters.
The court heard that in an effort to move away the animal slipped and fell, and lay for a few seconds with its body half on, half off the steel ramp leading up to the box.
She said as she watched the young filly get back up on her feet she rang local gardaí to alert them to the incident.
"The ill-treatment continued after it managed to get up. At that point it was bucking violently now. I could see it sweating, it was getting increasingly upset," Ms Downing said.
After a few seconds of stumbling on its feet the animal allegedly fell once more, hitting its head and landing awkwardly on its neck on the ground.
Her mother Deirdre said, "it was a horrendous thing to see". Asked why she didn't intervene, the mother answered: "I didn't think it was a safe situation to get involved in".
Veterinary surgeon Mr Dave Canty said Mr Kiely called him to the scene where he found the horse in a comatose state. "I examined it and as a result decided it wasn't probably going to get up at that stage. I made some further tests and I decided to put the animal down for humanitarian reasons."
Defence counsel Mr Donal Ryan BL, said his client Mr Stokes, along with Mr Kiely, strongly denied ever hitting the animal. "She flipped over and lost her balance and hit her head hard . . . there was no beating. That's the truth of it. What happened was an accident," Mr Stokes said.
The case continues today before a jury of three women and nine men at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.