Council uses CCTV to nab culprits dumping dead horses

Galway County Council is trawling through CCTV footage to determine who has been dumping dead horses in the North Galway area over the past couple of weeks.

Dead horses have been found on bogs, on the sides of roads and, more frighteningly, in a drain that eventually flows into the Corrib system.

The illegal dumping of horses has become very common in recent years and particularly when the animals have very little value which results in them being disposed of.

But it is a costly process for the Council in gathering up the dead animals which have been dumped in the Abbeyknockmoy and Corofin areas over the past couple of weeks.

It is estimated that between veterinary costs and the hiring of a firm to dispose of the animals, it amounts to more than €200 per horse.

Cllr Pete Roche said that in one week alone, the Council spent more than €1,000 in the disposing of dead horses and this money could have been used in carrying out essential repairs on old people’s homes or even filling potholes along local roads.

Two dead horses were removed from a dry drain in Abbeyknockmoy early last week. It appeared that they had been dead a considerable time before they were dumped there by their owners.

It was a fully grown horse and a foal and neither animal showed signs of starvation. It is believed that their owners put them down because they had little value and then dumped them in a place where they would not be seen.

Since then more dead horses have been found in the Ballybanagher area of Corofin while another horse has been dumped in a drain in Abbeyknockmoy. The water in this drain eventually flows into the River Clare which supplies drinking water for hundreds of houses.

In each case, community wardens have summoned a veterinary inspection of each animal to determine how they died while also employing the services of a dead animal disposal service.

“These are five dumped horses that have been brought to my attention so I can only assume that the problem is a much bigger one,” commented Cllr Roche.

He said that one of the horses was dumped along a public road and it was residents in the area who brought the matter to the attention of Galway County Council who had to take measures to dispose of it for health and safety reasons.

The fact that one of the horses was dumped in a drain and contaminated the water was of particular concern, he said.

He has now been told the Galway County Council is examining CCTV footage from cameras located at illegal dumping blackspots in the North Galway area in an effort to find the culprits.

“The people responsible for this deserve to be locked up,” Cllr Roche added.