Animal abuse at Kilrush fair

JEERS and sexual insults were hurled at a woman who went to a Kilrush pub to get water for horses, ponies and donkeys that were standing in the searing heat at the local fair last week.
The woman, who doesn’t want to be named for fear of reprisals, said she “felt very threatened” when she tried to do something to help the animals that she claimed were being ill treated at Kilrush Horse Fair.
“I was horrified to see the horses standing all day in the belting hot sun with no shade and no water. None of their owners would provide water so I had to go in and out of the pub with a small container and give water to them, one by one, amidst jeers and sexual insults,” the woman revealed.
“In about an hour and a half or so I had hydrated all but one, who was so scared of me I had to back away for fear of being kicked. They were so grateful, especially the breastfeeding mothers,” she added.
The West Clare woman said if she had a trailer and €200 to spare, she would have bought a terrified, skinny donkey just to get it out of its terrible existence.
“There was an albino pony that was sunburned around the eyes and nose,” she added.
The person claimed some parked horseboxes contained distressed animals in them.
“One box had three horses squashed into it. They were so distressed, they tried to hoof their way out. When they were finally released, they were repeatedly whipped with the reins to calm them down, which common sense will tell does exactly the opposite.
“There was one nice man in the middle who gratefully received the water and thanked me. The rest of them cared nothing for their animals and found it amazing that I care about their well-being.
“I know these fairs are going on for years but surely in this day and age certain standards should be met? The local SPCA attends other fairs around the country. Why not this one?”
The complainant said the reactions she overheard from the tourists were not good.
“Something needs to be done about this. I felt very threatened by the horse owners and they watched me as I went to my car,” she said.
Kilrush town clerk John Corry said the town council was aware of issues at last week’s horse fair.
“I wish to confirm that Kilrush Town Council police the horse fair by means of our community warden. On the day of the most recent horse fair the community warden became concerned for the welfare of some horses because of the very hot weather and reported this to Frankie Coote, SPCA warden. Animal welfare is something which Kilrush Town Council would indeed be conscious of as part of the policing of these bylaws,” Mr Corry stated.
Meanwhile Clare dog warden and SPCA officer Frankie Coote, said that when an incident of the type described occurs, the gardaí should be contacted.
“All the person had to do was ring the local gardaí. That’s their job. The gardaí have gone on my behalf, several times, to Kilrush horse fair. I did get a call. The local traffic warden rang me concerned about donkeys that were there. I asked him to ring the local gardaí,” Mr Coote said.
“I cover the fair in Spancilhill on the request of the people who run it to make sure that welfare is good. We rarely have those kinds of problems at the smaller fairs. Don’t get me wrong, we do have people who see the welfare of horses differently to other people and would be a bit extreme. Under welfare guidelines for fairs there should be water troughs. I would advise anyone that sees anything to contact the gardaí,” he added.