HSI condemns mistreatment of horses seen in RTÉ programme

The Chief Executive of Horse Sport Ireland has condemned the mistreatment of horses recently revealed by RTÉ Investigates.

Denis Duggan told the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine that the “horrific welfare abuses witnessed in the documentary, and the blatant forging of microchips to match passports, are grotesque abuses of horses and food chain integrity”.

HSI “unequivocally condemns the practices surrounding the abhorrent treatment of horses as outlined by the recent RTÉ investigates documentary,” Mr Duggan said.

He noted “significant commentary” on the need for digital passports since the RTÉ Investigates exposé and said that HSI is in “the final stages of testing the roll-out of a new e-passport system”.

“The horse abuse, both welfare and traceability, that we witnessed in that documentary has no place in our industry or our sports,” he said.

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He added: “There’s also no place in society for the mistreatment of horses or any other animals, nor is there for the use of animals for any criminal intent.”

HSI is the governing body for equestrian sport in Ireland and Northern Ireland and is responsible for issuing passports for three studbooks.

Mr Duggan noted that it is not the regulator for the sector.

It is one of seven agencies which issues equine passports in the State, and estimates that it issues one third of the passports distributed annually.

The organisation “welcomes the full investigation by the Department of agriculture and the gardaí, and other relevant authorities, into the deeply troubling issues highlighted by the program, and we’ve offered our full assistance to any such investigation.”

He appeared alongside CEO of Horse Racing Ireland Suzanne Meade, and deputy chief veterinarian at the Department of Agriculture Michael Sheahan, both of whom were before the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) last week.

Read more:
Significant horse abuse exposed at key site by secret RTÉ filming

Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard, leas-chathaoirleach of the committee, said that he had to turn off the RTÉ Investigates programme halfway through.

“Shocking stuff altogether, the worst I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” he said, adding that he believes that most people would share that view.

Mr Lombard said that he “can’t even quantify” what the “knock-on implications for our industry” might be of the revelation. But the reputational damage to the industry is “absolutely frightening”, he said.

Mr Sheahan said that the investigation is being led by the department’s Investigations Division with “considerable garda involvement”.

Mr Sheahan raised the possibility that An Garda Siochána could take the lead in the international aspects of the investigation.

“I think – but I’m not sure – that there’s some discussion with the serious crime unit,” he said, noting that this may not be the correct title, “whether they might be taking the lead” on “certain other issues”, such as the “international dimension”.

He revealed that the department attended a meeting of the EU Agri-Food Fraud Network today organised by the European Commission, which was also attended by representatives from Europol.

“They [Europol] are taking … play a significant role in co-ordinating internationally this investigation,” Mr Sheahan said.

The department is “assisting them in every way we can,” he added.