The burnt, skeletal carcass of an animal, discovered at the rear of the playground in Sliabh Ban, Ballybane, may not be the only instance of such maltreatment in the city.
Independent city councillor Terry O’Flaherty has raised the issue following the incident which she believes took place earlier this month.
“Local information is that it was "burnt” but there is no other information as to how it died, all that remains is the charred skeleton,” she said. “More than likely it was mistreated or perhaps starved to death. The only food these horses receive is when they are left out on greens to eat the grass.”
Locals brought the issue to the attention of the Galway City Council and Cllr O’Flaherty believes there have been a number of similar incidents like this in recent times.
“Due to numerous horses being moved around on the eastside of the city, this presents great difficulties for the council staff in identifying the owners of specific horses,” she said.
Cllr O’Flaherty said the fact there is “no effective regulation on the ownership chipping and traceability of keeping horses”, also makes it difficult to track the keeping and movement of animals and enforcement against mistreatment of animals.
She is now calling on City Hall to make full use of the existing legislation in relation to stop “this type of unscrupulous cruel heartless activity”.
