IT’s been a week of highs and extreme lows in the equine industry. An enormous high for the show jumping and eventing riders that were nominated for the Paris Olympic Games, which are only 41 days away.

However, every one of us who loves horses was appalled, shocked and deeply saddened by the scenes aired in the RTÉ Investigates documentary ‘Horses – Making a Killing’ on Wednesday night. The behaviour witnessed inside Ireland’s only horse abattoir in Straffan, Co Kildare, is completely and utterly unacceptable and, allegedly, going on a stone’s throw away from officials of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The Department have questions to answer and a solution must be found with urgency. This story will not, and must not, go away until people are held accountable and the correct processes are put in place going forward.

On Friday afternoon, a Department spokesperson confirmed that no animals have entered the food chain from the Straffan slaughter plant in the past three weeks. They said: “The slaughter plant is currently subject to a legal notice from the Department detaining all carcasses that were presented for slaughter last week, until the Department is satisfied regarding their traceability.” This answers the vital traceability question for the food chain, but what about the welfare issue, if horses continue to be slaughtered at the plant?

Criminal activity

Also witnessed was the alleged criminal and fraudulent trade of horses and abuse of the passporting system. Obtaining a second registration for an equine is against the law. There is an obligation on veterinarians to check extensively for equine microchips; it appears in some cases highlighted by RTÉ, that was clearly not being done.

Suggestions forthcoming this week include the idea that one passport issuing organisation on the island would go some way towards stamping out this criminal activity. That is a tall ask given that there are seven PIOs authorised by the DAFM in the south alone. There is a desperate need for a robust identification system.