Horse owner and trainer Luke Comer Junior has been ordered to pay a €20,000 donation to the ISPCA by Navan District Court after the "fully decomposed" carcasses of nine horses were found on his lands at Dunboyne, Co Meath https://www.lmfm.ie/news/lmfm-news/trainer-luke-comer-junior-in-court-after-9-horse-carcasses-found-on-lands-in-co-meath/
In a prosecution taken against him by the Department of Agriculture, he was accused of failing to collect, identify and transport category 2 animal byproducts without undue delay under conditions which present risks arising to public and animal health, in breach of European Union regulations.
The court heard that Department inspectors found the carcasses near the main yard and that it was impossible to say how old the carcasses were. There were up to 100 horses on the land. The solicitor for the prosecution said that two skulls were available to be viewed in the court but Judge Cormac Dunne declined the offer.
The judge noted that the decomposed remains of the nine horses were "in full view" beside an "active track" and remarked that this was "pretty startling".
It is unknown how the horses died.
Luke Comer Junior is the son of horse trainer Luke Comer Senior who was last year given a three-year suspension by the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board and hit with costs of over €750,000 after 12 of his horses were found to have failed drug tests. He has appealed the penalty and the appeals case is yet to be heard.
Comer Senior, believed to be a billionaire, is co-founder of one of Europe’s biggest property firms, the Comer Group.
SEE ALSO
“One of the biggest doping scandals ever”: Irish horse trainer Luke Comer Senior given 3-year suspension
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/09/15/one-of-the-biggest-doping-scandals-ever-irish-horse-trainer-given-3-year-suspension/
ACTION ALERT
Don’t support horse racing or bet on racing.
Demand an end to the Irish Government’s massive grants to horse and greyhound racing – more than €1.7 Billion (€1,736,071,127) handed over since 2001, including €95 million for 2024. Contact the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Finance Minister now.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
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Tanaiste Micheál Martin TD
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Michael McGrath TD
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Why you should say NO to horse racing – download and distribute the leaflet https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/08/05/new-leaflet-why-you-should-say-no-to-horse-racing
Watch the BBC Panorama documentary “The Dark Side of Horse Racing”
https://youtu.be/VlpQhJFd5Bo
Find out more about race horse deaths at
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/horses-confirmed-dead-following-races-at-irish-racecourses/