Major protest planned outside factory over 'abhorrent' horse abuse footage

A protest is being held on Saturday outside a factory in Co Kildare where serious animal welfare abuses are alleged to have taken place.

The abuses were uncovered in the RTÉ Investigates documentary which aired on Wednesday night, prompting an investigation by the Department of Agriculture and gardaí.

The documentary also revealed that illegal methods were used to launder the identities of horses at the site in Ireland’s only equine abattoir.

The welfare abuse was filmed in a building used by Shannonside Foods Ltd in Straffan.

Campaign group My Lovely Horse Rescue (MLHR) is now calling for the facility to be shut down.

Martina Kenny, co-founder of MLHR, told Newstalk radio that it was time for the authorities to take action. "The whole country is in uproar about this," she said.

The Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, said those responsible will face the “full rigours of the law”.

Horse Racing Ireland said it will “actively support” the Department of Agriculture and Garda investigations, and urged anyone with information about mistreatment of horses to report it to gardaí.

Mr McConalogue said an investigation has been launched into the incidents alongside the gardaí.

“The scenes we saw last night and the treatment of those horses was abhorrent and distressing. Horses are beautiful, sensitive animals and that was absolutely unacceptable,” Mr McConalogue said.

“It’s certainly not representative of the way that people across this country and those in the industry treat and care for their horses. We already have commenced an investigation in the Department of Agriculture.

“We’ve also requested all of the footage that RTÉ has, and any other evidence as well to make it available to the investigation team.

“Obviously, I would avoid saying anything that might be prejudicial to the conduct of that investigation. But I can assure you and I can assure the public that this will be fully investigated, and that the full rigour of the law will be applied here.

“The law is adequate but what we saw last night was not lawful, and it was breaches of the law.”

The Fianna Fáil Minister said there are strict laws in place around the management of what enters the human food chain.

He said that no stone will be left unturned in the investigation.