Aspects of the owning/keeping and disposal of horses, and how these relate to equine health/welfare in Ireland

Primary information was gathered through visits to horse pounds run by and on behalf of Local Authorities, to social horse projects, to horse dealer yards, ferry ports, horse slaughter plants and knackeries.The approach adopted by members of a given group, e.g. ferry ports, is described and differences are highlighted, for example in how different Local Authorities implement the Control of Horses Act of 1986, and how the choice, for example, of disposal route affects the standard of animal welfare.There is a pressing need for a more centrally mandated and uniformly applied system of governance to safeguard the health and promote the keeping of horses to a higher welfare standard in Ireland. Fundamental to an understanding of why there is insufficient oversight of the keeping and proper disposal of horses is the lack of a comprehensive, integrated system for the registration, identification and tracing of equidae in Ireland.Ireland has long been a major producer of horses of all types for the domestic market and for export abroad, ranking among the largest producers of Thoroughbred horses in Europe during the recent decade [1]. With an estimated 27.5 sport horses per thousand people it is the most densely sport horse populated country in Europe [2]. Links between the structures, governance and funding of the Irish equine industries and potential concerns for equine welfare have already been reported [3]. These authors also reported upon the perception of equine welfare [4,5] and on the welfare of horses on farms in Ireland [6]. The key issues to emerge from this work as drivers for poor welfare standards were problems with unwanted horses, especially the trade (most particularly via fairs and dealers) and disposal of horses by an owner/keeper when he/she no longer considered them fit for purpose.The level of production of horses in Ireland has historically exceeded the domestic need and a variety of routes of removal of horses from the owned live Irish horse populati