THE Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA) has come out in full support to a call to ban sulkies on public roads.
Following an accident in Tipperary involving a young horse last week, the Irish Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has stated that the use of sulkies on public roads should now be banned.
The horse involved in the horrific incident broke free from its sulky and smashed into an oncoming vehicle. The driver was uninjured but because of the severity of the injuries caused to the horse, a vet had to put the animal to sleep to prevent further suffering.
ISPCA chief executive Dr Andrew Kelly says he wants to see an end to this “life-threatening” activity.
“Driving young horses and ponies at excessive speed on busy roads, often by children as young as 10-years-old, is not only risking the lives of innocent road users, and the people involved in sulky road trotting but also the welfare of the animals”, he explained.
Dr Kelly maintains that the welfare of the horses has been blatantly ignored and the ISPCA has called on the Government to deal not only with this public safety and animal welfare issue, but to ensure that local authorities carry out their responsibilities under the Control of Horses Act.
“We rescue and treat many horses and ponies abandoned and injured from sulky road trotting. The most common injuries we see are broken knees, swollen joints, and neck injuries caused by badly fitted tack,” he said.
“More often than not these horses are too small and too thin to be pulling grown men and sometimes entire families. They are unnecessarily beaten and pose a huge danger to the public on the roads,” she told the Limerick Post.
“It is also particularly worrying to see small children driving these sulkies. The bye laws state that there should be no horses allowed in the city and were these laws abided by, the problem would be hugely alleviated,” she added.
Limerick SPCA are also urging horse-owners to leave plenty of water out for their animals in the hot weather.
