A ONE-OFF national cull of unwanted horses to end the current welfare problem will be considered by the Department of Agriculture.
The suggestion came from members of the joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture which discussed the issue of horse welfare yesterday.
Deputy Christy O’Sullivan (FF) said the problem was so acute he would like to see a situation where unwanted horses could be presented for slaughter at no cost to the owners.
He said while he disliked the idea of taxpayers subsidising those who might be cruel to horses, an “amnesty-style” approach might resolve the problem.
Support for such action came from deputies Eamon Scanlon (FF) and Andrew Doyle (FG).
Mr Doyle said people who could afford a 4x4 and a horsebox some years ago now found they could not afford to keep horses and this is the area on which the focus should fall.
Two Dublin deputies, Mary Upton (Lab) and Róisín Shortall (Lab), called for the closure of the monthly Smithfield Horse fair where many of the problems are thought to have begun.
Ms Upton said horses were being sold for as little as €20 each to young urban people who had no land or place to keep them and there were high levels of neglect and cruelty.
Michael Creed (FG) said hundreds of horses in a pitiful state could be seen any day of the week on the outskirts of Dublin and he had witnessed cruelty and neglect in other cities and towns and at horse fairs this year.