Updated 23.07pm

A HORSE HAS died from extensive injuries after it was doused with petrol and set alight in Dublin last night.

The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) has expressed outright condemnation at the slaughter of the horse which is believed to have been abandoned.

The DSPCA was notified of the incident by gardaí this morning and accompanied gardaí to the site which is in a field by the road adjacent to the Luas in Tallaght. The area in Fettercairn is described as being close to a housing estate.

The DSPCA inspectors at the scene said that it was evident that the horse had been alive when it was set alight and that a significant amount of petrol would have had to be used.

The remnants of the fire have not yet been removed but the DSPCA say that it is expected the council will do so very soon.

The charity say that this is one of the most horrific incidents their inspectors have ever witnessed.

Five other horses in the vicinity were moved to safety by agents of the local authority with gardaí assistance.

The DSPCA’s CEO Brian Gillen said that the charity is extremely concerned with what it calls this “deeply sinister development”:

The horrendous death that this horse endured is unimaginable. Whilst we encounter many horrific cruelty and neglect cases with regard to abandoned horses, we have never seen such levels of deliberate and depraved cruelty.

Gillen added that this “awful incident” reinforces the plight of abandoned horses in Dublin. “We are asking all the local authorities to take immediate steps to put a stop to this barbaric behaviour with the removal of abandoned horses to safekeeping”, he said.

The DSPCA have uploaded a picture to their Facebook page of the scene following the fire but we advise that the image may be distressing to some readers. The charity say the picture is one of the least disturbing images they took of the scene.

Gardaí confirmed that investigations into the incident are taking place but no arrests have been made.