300 horses have been seized and put down in Limerick city in this year alone, the Limerick Post has learned.
But the city’s long-debated horse project looks set to get underway at last as an animal welfare charity, a group of city residents, professionals and a local representatives are putting their weight behind the plan.
Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW) is among the supporters of a proposal to have a training facility where horse lovers can safely learn to look after and stable their animals to stop them being seized and put down.
And a group of ten people have begun a campaign that they hope will see a fully fledged horse project up and running in five years.
Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin says he is willing to support the proposal and to liaise with the city authorities on behalf of those who are trying to get the project up and running.
“Last year, we seized hundreds of horses and then put them down. Already this year, we have seized more than 300 stray horses. This has been going on for years.
“We spend about €600,000 every year dealing with stray horses and that is money spent which we get no return for. We need a long-term plan,” he said.
He added that the “reality is that there is a cohort of people in Limerick who have a genuine interest and affection for horses. A project like this would facilitate people learning to care for the animals properly. Under the social inclusion section of the regeneration scheme, there is money for such projects and we should access that,” he told the Limerick Post.
The City South councillor pointed out that there is an equine faculty in the University of Limerick whose expertise could be drawn on.
“We have plenty of land on the south side of the city where this could be facilitated. Right now, horses are running wild. If one of them kicks and kills a child then there would be an outcry and people asking why we didn’t do something”.
Cllr Leddin said he is inviting people interested in such a project to contact him so he can support their call.
The group, named the Horse Education Limerick Programme Southside (HELPS), is aiming for a permanent base for the project in the long-term but they are hoping to get a temporary site where they train youngsters to look after and handle their horses in the interim.
