A Senator who is calling for a ban on sulky racing is being urged to end her support for horse racing, an activity responsible for horrific injuries and the killing of thousands of horses.
Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O'Loughlin, who has voted in favour of over €332 million in government grants to horse racing, has this week declared “we have to care about horse welfare".
In her statement, Senator O'Loughlin was referring not to horses used at racecourses but to those used in sulky racing. She spoke out after an horrific incident in County Kildare in which a horse pulling a sulky broke a leg and was destroyed.
Senator O'Loughlin is calling for a complete ban on sulky racing in Ireland, a move welcomed by campaigners. In a video tweet on Friday (31 March 2023), she said: "I was shocked and saddened to hear about a tragic situation yesterday evening where a horse that was attached to a sulky was basically driven over a cattle grid close to The Curragh and sadly the horse got its hoof stuck in the cattle grid and despite all the efforts from My Lovely Horse, local soldiers and Kildare County Council fire services, the horse had to be put down" https://twitter.com/Fiona_Kildare/status/1641822167783333890
"What happened in the Curragh was tragic and appalling," she added.
Also tragic and appalling is the injury and death caused to horses used in racing.
Over 1,000 horses have been killed at racecourses around Ireland in the past decade, including 107 last year. The sickening Horse Racing Ireland statistics came to light following a Dail Question from Paul Murphy TD.
Figures obtained by Deputy Murphy show that from 2012 to the end of 2022, 1,060 horses have lost their lives at racecourses.
The horses were killed after suffering a variety of awful injuries including broken legs, broken necks, broken shoulders, injured backs, injured tendons, etc. Horse Racing Ireland has revealed that the method of killing is either lethal injection or a bullet in the head.
Others horses have suffered heart attacks and collapsed and died during or after races.
Among the victims are horses injured and killed at The Curragh Racecourse, not far from where the unfortunate horse pulling the sulky was injured in the cattle grid and killed.
Horse Racing Ireland's shocking death figures do not include the horses injured at racecourses, taken away and later killed elsewhere or the horses killed behind the scenes because they are not fast enough to win races.
Many more race horses are also killed in slaughterhouses. Shocking stats obtained by Deputy Murphy show that between 2016 and 2022, 14,229 thoroughbred horses were slaughtered at “Department-approved slaughter facilities” in Ireland.
As a TD, Fiona O'Loughlin voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. This channelled €64 million + €64 million + €67.2 million + €67.2 million of taxpayers’ money into horse racing. As a Senator in December 2021, she again voted in favour of the funding, which granted another €70.4 million to Horse Racing Ireland. To-date, Horse Racing Ireland has received more than €1.3 billion in government grants.
We hope that Senator O'Loughlin - in declaring that “we have to care about horse welfare" – will extend her concern to all horses, stop voting in favour of funding to horse racing and push for an end to the grants that are propping up this horse-killing gambling activity.
Join us in our appeal to Senator O'Loughlin
Tel (01) 618 3101 / (045) 436 792 / (087) 234 5160
Email: fiona.oloughlin@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fiona.oloughlinFF
Twitter: http://twitter.com/fiona_kildare
Horse deaths at Irish racecourses
2022: 107 deaths
2021: 113 deaths
2020: 65 deaths
2019: 102 deaths
2018: 111 deaths
2017: 88 deaths
2016: 83 deaths
2015: 89 deaths
2014: 99 deaths
2013: 121 deaths
2012: 82 deaths
Thoroughbred horses slaughtered in Ireland
2023: 244 (up to 29th March)
2022: 1,051
2021: 1,105
2020: 1,549
2019: 2,218
2018: 2,526
2017: 2,829
2016: 2,952
SEE ALSO
1,060 horses killed at racecourses in Ireland
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/1060-horses-killed-at-racecourses-in-ireland/
More than 1,000 race horses slaughtered in Ireland in 2022
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/02/28/more-than-1000-race-horses-slaughtered-in-ireland-in-2022/
Irish Horse Death Watch
https://irishhorsedeathwatch.com/
Senator Fiona O’Loughlin (Fianna Fail) and animal cruelty issues
In June 2016, Fiona O’Loughlin was among the 114 TDs who voted against Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan’s bill which sought to ban cruel hare coursing.
In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations which granted €80 million/€80 million/€84 million/€84 million of taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing.
As a Senator in December 2021, Fiona O’Loughlin voted in favour of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021 which channelled €70.4 million of taxpayers’ money into horse racing and €17.6 million into greyhound racing.
“Fianna Fáil does not support the bill which would ban live hare coursing. This is due to the existing strict regulatory framework in place, which ensures the highest animal welfare standards and protections are in place in carrying out this activity. It is imperative that enforcement of the existing regulations are complied with in order to ensure that animals involved in this activity are protected and conform to such standards as opposed to adding another layer of regulation to existing legislation. Hares can only be collected for coursing by ICC affiliated clubs in accordance with the terms of licences granted by the state. Such licences contain 26 conditions, most of which relate to hare welfare that set strict requirements. Meanwhile, more than 95% of the hares caught for hare coursing are returned to the wild each year.” From an email to a constituent ahead of June 2016’s Dail Eireann vote on the bill to ban coursing. Deputy O’Loughlin was among the 114 TDs who shamefully voted against the bill and ensured that the suffering of hares continues.
“Any barrier to trade flows or the exchange rates could make Irish horses more expensive or result in lower returns in the industry. In particular, the freedom of movement of horses needs to be protected. The existing tripartite agreement between the Republic, the UK and France, allowing racehorses to move freely between the three, may be called into question due to Brexit. It is the same with labour. Breeders on both sides of the Border will have the same issues. The industry needs to be protected from the negative impacts of Brexit and mechanisms need to be put in place to protect this sector.” Fiona O’Loughlin TD, Brexit: Statements, 5 April 2017.