THERE is no facility for the slaughter of abandoned or stray horses operating in Ireland at the moment, following the closure of the abattoir at Shannonside Foods Ltd in Straffan, Co Kildare, by the Department of Agriculture last weekend.

Pressure came on the Department to close the plant following last week’s RTÉ Investigates programme which alleged serious equine welfare breaches and other illegal activity was taking place on the grounds.

Initially the Department stopped short of explicitly stating that all slaughtering had been suspended at Shannonside but on Saturday they issued a brief statement to say “the Department can confirm that it has suspended the operation of the plant. In addition, the Department can confirm that the slaughter plant is currently subject to a legal notice detaining all carcases presented for slaughter last week. In late May, the Department issued a legal notice prohibiting the presence or entry of horses to the adjacent holding premises where much of the distressing footage was filmed.”

On Thursday a senior official from the Department told the Public Accounts Committee that he doubted whether the Department could “pull a rabbit out of a hat” and license a replacement horse slaughter facility.” Michael Sheahan, deputy chief veterinary officer for the Department, said: “There are other operators who have, in the past, killed horses but, on the other hand, this whole thing has become so toxic because of what has been seen, I’m not sure that people will be rushing into it.”

Sheahan acknowledged that closing the Straffan plant is likely to see horses exported for slaughter which raises further welfare concerns. “We’ve seen the experience in the States where there was a campaign for many years to shut down horse slaughter facilities,” Sheahan said. “Eventually that campaign succeeded, and arguably it has made the situation worse, because horses are now being exported to Mexico and Canada and gone on long journeys. So there are sometimes unintended consequences.”

A senior industry figure told The Irish Field this week that, while there were clearly significant concerns around Shannonside Foods, the lack of a properly-run abattoir for horses will create “a different kind of headache” for those on the fringes of the equine sector. The source said: “There are moves at EU level to prohibit long-distance travel for slaughter of all animals, so we need to have a properly-run facility in place, one that we can have trust in.”

Sheahan told the Public Accounts Committee that fewer than 2,000 horses a year were being slaughtered at Shannonside Foods, a huge decrease from the peak of 24,000 horses slaughtered in Ireland in 2013.

Having made clear that there were no recorded breaches of equine welfare laws at the abattoir part of Shannonside Foods, Sheahan was quizzed by Deputy Verona Murphy on why exactly the plant was shut down.

“It’s closed not because of welfare reasons; it’s closed for other reasons,” Shehan said. “It’s suspended for traceability issues which came to light as a result of the the RTÉ programme.”

Moved to Limerick

He acknowledged that “a number of horses were moved” from the abattoir a day before the enforced closure and he understands that they have been moved to lands in Limerick “owned by the same individual”.

At a court hearing in Limerick this week Judge Patricia Harney heard an appeal by Shannonside Foods Ltd against an order by the Department to destroy 65 carcasses of horses that were slaughtered at Straffan earlier this month. The Department claims that the meat, valued at €80,000, did not meet the minimum legal standard for food safety.

Superintendent veterinary inspector Ann Quinn told the court the Department had “grave concerns” in relation to the traceability of the animals and accuracy of the information presented on the horses.

She said the operator of Shannonside Foods Ltd, John Joe Fitzpatrick, was the subject of compliance notices after he was discovered with a “large number of equine passports with no matching equines and horses with no identification” at his own holding in O’Briensbridge, Co Clare.

In relation to the farmland adjacent to Shannonside Foods Ltd, the Department said animals discovered on the property on June 5th were in “very poor condition”, they were thin and unfit to be transported. The court was told that due to poor quality fencing, three horses died attempting to break through the fencing.

A WEEK after facing tough questioning from the Public Accounts Committee, officials from Horse Racing Ireland and the Department of Agriculture will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture on Wednesday at 5.30pm. Horse Sport Ireland will also be represented. The discussion will be on “Welfare and treatment of horses and their traceability”.