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IRELAND SAW OVER 2,000 horses slaughtered for human consumption between January and end-March this year.
Minister Simon Coveney confirmed that 2,055 horses were killed in accordance with EU and national rules.
To be eligible for human consumption, horses have to have a passport compliant with current veterinary requirements.
Last year, a total of 10,711 horses were slaughtered.
Coveney was answering a Dáil question put to him by TD Brendan Smith who raised concerns that farmers were facing problems due to poor market returns. He suggested proposals to help farmers who want to dispose of horses and asked the Minister if he would introduce a scheme for the depopulation of horses.
The Fine Gael Minister said his department has already put a process in place for dealing with horses that cannot be slaughtered for human consumption, as well as those creatures who are at risk.
He said at-risk horses can be disposed of by way of licensed knackeries and that his department can provide emergency funding to assist horse owners who cannot afford to pay for humane disposals.
There is also a helpline (1850 211 990) for farmers who are facing a critical horse welfare issue.
Coveney claimed that the work by local authorities has reduced the number of abandoned horses “particularly in urban areas”.
“My Department continues to remind horse owners of the importance of compliance with equine identification and equine premises registration requirements,” he said.
“Furthermore it is the responsibility of horse owners to ensure the welfare of horses in their ownership and/or their care and to dispose of them appropriately.
In this context, horse owners are reminded of the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council that, where an owner can no longer adequately provide for their horse or where the horse can no longer fulfil the purpose for which is was bred, he or she should dispose of the animal.
Coveney has repeatedly rejected proposed horse culls, claiming there is no major welfare problem. But an Irish farmers’ group has said there are currently 18,000 ‘useless’ horses in the country.
According to the UFA, the small breeders’ section of the industry “is in total melt down”, with an estimated 25,000 horses “with no future, no monetary value, no market and whose owners cannot afford to keep them”. Earlier this year, it said:
Horses in worst case scenarios are been dumped out on waste ground cutaway bogs and waste ground, country wide, left to starve or freeze often in an emaciated miserable state. Animal welfare organisations and facilities are at breaking point.
Last week, Kilkenny County Council told TheJournal.ie that the number of horses being impounded across the country has increased – and with that, the number of euthanisations has risen.
“Impounding of horses has done nothing to resolve the national problem of too many unwanted horses in the country. A solution is required that includes curtailment of indiscriminate breeding of horses. There are not enough places to re-home them all,” is said in a statement following the death of four foaling mares.
Windows phone hasn’t really got any traction in the market. One interesting thing is that a lot of people who have the phones really like them. I have used a Windows phone since Windows 7 and I am on my third upgrade. I think to fully appreciate the advantages you have to use the features. There is excellent integration of cloud storage, email and contacts with your Microsoft account. You can open office attachments in email and edit on the go. It is also excellent if you want to add a work email account and have in a separate window with it’s own tile. For the game enthusiasts there is an excellent selection of Xbox games. Most of the popular social media apps are available bit it is true that there is less choice than apple or android. I think the failure of windows 8.1 on desktop probably put a lot of people off windows phones. Ironically Windows 8.1 is really nice on a windows phone. The emergence of Windows may make people look a bit closer at Windows phone. Anyway looking forward to my Windows 10 upgrade in the new year.
By the way I don’t work for microsoft
That’s some decent storage
Due upgrade was thinking of switching to android Samsung s6 but my cloud storage, contacts email etc arevon Microsoft I wonder is there much hassle or should I get a 950
It’s useful for my purposes with OneNote, Office Lens and integration with Office but not as adaptable as Android.
I just upgraded to the 950 from a Samsung Galaxy S5. So far, I’m impressed. What I find nice are the little things that make using the phone easy. Searching for apps / contacts on the phone is really intuitive. the groove music app is great too. And one nice feature is the ability to put playlists directly on the front tiles. great for Bluetooth integrated cars / speakers etc…
On the downside, I does overheat a fair bit, and I would recommend a cover for it, but generally I’m impressed. I haven’t tried out the continuum integration yet, but I will get to that at some stage.
The devices look great but no one is going to fork out €600 or a long contract on something they might hate. Maybe some sort of like it or your money back guarantee could be good.
It may be a device you can flip to Android if you don’t like Windows
To write as a CON that Windows 10 is buggy and needs works is just pathetic if you don’t back it up with examples. Anyway have you ever seen an OS without bugs??? I feel the CONS are just written because you couldn’t find any…
In the same boat dropped my 925 on a wooden floor and the screen went in bits. Not it’s first fall to be fair!
“With an infrared light glowing while it searches for you, it quickly recognises you and unlocks your phone, making for a more convenient experience than a fingerprint.” .. I got the new iPhone 6s plus and I just have to touch the sensor and they thing unlocks. the problem is that the Camera on the Lumia is not as good as iPhone. I moved to android for a year, got the note 3, liked the phone and size, but the camera was not great and I didn’t really use the stylus much. its hard to beat an iPhone.
It’s quite easy to beat an Iphone. Drop it on a soft pillow and the screen cracks! I’ve dropped the Lumia on a tiled floor and it was grand.Tough aul phones Nokias!
You`re are one of the lucky one`s RTibe . I dropped my 925 Lumia about a year ago, and the screen went to s**t. Loved that phone. Replaced it with a 1520 Lumia, which I picked up preowned for a steal. If you can get past it`s size it`s a superb phone with excellent specs. Everybody too their own I say. And Robert in my opinion the Lumia camera is the best you can get on a phone, just saying!
Hardcore fans = codeword for employees of Microsoft, the only people who seem to use Lumina phones
I don’t work for them and am on my third Lumia. Excellent storage, really good camera and feels more solid than most androids. However I will admit, the lack of apps is an issue. Not enough to put me off though!
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