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Martina Kenny

Horses in Dublin estate starved, beaten and mowed down by quad bikes

*WARNING* This story contains a very graphic image that some people may find disturbing.

Updated 23:00

WARNING: This story contains an image with very graphic content.

HORSES LIVING IN a field in a Dublin housing estate are being tortured by residents living in the area on a daily basis with gardaí, council workers and animal welfare groups “terrified” to venture in to get them out.

A volunteer with rescue organisation My Lovely Horse told TheJournal.ie that one horse had to be taken out of the field, in Cherry Orchard, after being mowed down with a quad bike and then beaten with a wooden plank.

The horse’s leg was broken and when gardaí went to the area to try to move it out of the field, locals threw bottles at them, forcing them to retreat.

Martina Kenny, volunteer with the organisation said “no one seems to be able to cross them – the only way would be to get the army in with a tank.”

They’re a law onto themselves and it seems like everyone is terrified of them.

This injured horse was eventually taken out, in the early hours of Tuesday morning by employees from the pound.

However, just today, this dead foal was discovered in the same field:

image

Kenny said the group has tried numerous times to get the horses out but they are forced to sneak in during the early hours of the morning to avoid being attacked.

“We’re like six friends running My Lovely Horse – people think it’s some big operation but we’re just six people who said we’ve had enough of this.”

The group has around 40 horses at the moment that they are trying to find homes for, while also feeding the many neglected equine animals scattered around Dublin.

First published 18:49

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Michelle Hennessy
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