The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) has hit out at the sulky racers that Topic revealed were using the busy M4 motorway outside Mullingar as an early morning race track.
by Ronan Casey
Last week, we broke the story of how travellers in at least five vehicles stopped traffic on the M4 at 8:30am on 23 December, before racing two horse-drawn carts almost 5km along a stretch between the Castlepollard Junction and Hamills Service Station.
Responding to the shocking video and images of the race obtained by Topic, the ISPCA said it would like to see a ban on sulkies being used on public roads.
“This is a serious issue which risks the lives of innocent road users and compromises the welfare of the equines engaged in sulky road racing,” said ISPCA Chief Executive, Dr Andrew Kelly.
“Driving young horses and ponies flat out at excessive speed on Ireland’s busy roads, often by children as young as 10 years old, is an accident waiting to happen. We have seen far too often horses seriously injured or killed and left at the side of the road. These equines are often far too young to use for this purpose, causing serious damage to their undeveloped joints and ligaments. The most common injuries we see are broken knees, swollen joints, and neck injuries caused by badly fitted tack”.
The ISPCA would like to see Government deal not only with this public safety and serious animal welfare issue, but also ensure that Local Authorities carry out their responsibilities under the Control of Horses Act (1996) to remove this danger from Ireland’s roads. “We would also encourage the authorities to identify safe, off-road amenities so that sulkies can be raced safely,” said Dr. Kelly.
Meanwhile Gardaí in Mullingar say the incident is being fully investigated and is being treated very seriously. They are appealing for witnesses to come forward, as a file is being prepared and will be forwarded to the DPP. A spokesperson said “motorists should report any such incidents they observe to the Gardaí as this practice is strictly illegal.”
ANGRY REACTION
The sulky racing footage which Topic showed last week caused annoyance and drew comments from readers, and in writing to thank this newspaper for highlighting the matter, a north Westmeath reader, David Kelly, described it as “reckless conduct” and remarked that large sums of money were wagered by those involved, and he wondered why Revenue did not investigate this. He questioned also if those in power were “afraid to apply the laws of the land equally to so-called ‘travellers’ for fear of being branded racist by ‘nothing better to do with themselves do-gooders, limp-wristed lefties and bleeding-hearted liberals?” Mr. Kelly also alleged that Ireland has “become a dumping ground for apparent criminal elements from across the EU” and that politicians “feathering their own nests for a post political pensioned life” were doing nothing about it.
