THE DUBLIN SOCIETY for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) has today announced that they will start the emergency feeding of horses which have been abandoned in the greater Dublin area.

The charity has seen an increase in the number of calls it has received in recent days from people who have reported the abandoned animals.

The CEO of the DSPCA, Brian Gillen, said that many of these animals were being abandoned on “partially completed building sites and lands along the M50 area which are a danger in themselves to horses.”

“Added to that these lands cannot provide the nutrition necessary to keep horses alive nor indeed, in many of these locations, water,” he said.

He went on to advise landowners that they have a responsibility regarding the welfare of these horses, “regardless of their ownership or otherwise.”

The DSPCA has said that although the microchipping of horses does take place, the associated data is held across 10 databases and that there is no legal obligation for its administrators to share this information with the charity.

Gillen called on the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveneny, to fix this:

We would urge the Minister for Agriculture to introduce a single regulated national database for the protection of horses and to ensure owners meet responsibilities.