This week, a male was convicted at Kilkenny District Court after Gardaí seized a “neglected” horse last September.
The individual was handed a 5-year equine ban and has received a 3-month prison sentence (suspended for 18 months).
Sergeants Burke and Goode stumbled across the animal whilst patrolling Kilkenny on Thursday, September 3rd. Subsequently, they seized the horse under Section 12 of the 2013 Animal Welfare Act.
In a post on social media at the time, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána Kilkenny/Carlow said:
“You can’t always get a horsebox when you need it, so our skippers walked her back to the station.”
“Arrangements were then made between the Local Authority and My Lovely Horse Rescue, and now Lydia (they named her) is starting a new life in greener pastures. A sincere thank you to all parties who made this possible.”
Court case
In an updated post on social media on May 24th, a Garda spokesperson said:
“A male was convicted at Kilkenny District Court today following the seizure of this neglected horse on September 3rd, 2020.”
“The owner of this horse was convicted on two counts of cruelty contrary to Section 12 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.”
“He is precluded from owning any equine for a period of 5 years and has received a 3-month prison sentence (suspended for 18 months).”
“At the time and since we received massive assistance from our friends in both non-statutory and statutory bodies, thank you,” the spokesperson concluded.
Cow becomes Wexford foal’s foster mother
In other equine-related news, last month, we shared the story of a cow who has fostered a foal, whose dam died eight days after the colt’s birth.
Des Devereux, a Gorey, County Wexford-based farmer, told RTÉ: “Unfortunately, we lost the mare eight days after Thomas was born. She died of a massive haemorrhage. We were left in a predicament. We tried two foster mares, but the foal wasn’t thriving.”
Des’ eight-year-old son, Charlie, suggested rearing the foal, named Thomas, on one of their cows.
Charlie admitted that while “it took a few tries, it worked”. “I couldn’t believe it,” he added.
“It has worked really well. The transition is unbelievable. Within a couple of days, they were going out together. It’s not a mechanical relationship. You can tell that the cow has a very strong fondness for the foal.”
Both cow’s and goat’s milk are utilised to feed orphan foals because of their low lactose content and highly digestible fat contents.
