THESE images are becoming all too familiar in Laois. Dead and dying horses are being abandoned at an increasing rate, with two cases in the last week alone.

Only recently, environment officer with Laois Co Council John Ging and knackery owner John Styles removed the carcass of a trotter from a field at Clonminham, Portlaoise.

The animal had been put in the field the previous week, but died shortly afterwards due to exhaustion and neglect.

At one stage, the dying animal fell over and could not get back up. The ground bears the marks of the distressed horse attempting to right itself, but not having the energy to do so.

Laois Co Council owns the field, but that did not stop the horse owners from brazenly putting their own lock on the gate.

Both Mr Ging and Mr Styles said that the issue was becoming increasingly frequent and they believe that the mandatory microchipping of horses is needed now more than ever.

Mr Styles said that in recent weeks he had been called out to collect the bodies of half-a-dozen horses in Laois and Offaly.

“The horses are being abandoned all over the county,” he said.

Legislation states that every equine needs to have a passport and microchip, but this is not being enforced.

Dorothy Walker, chairperson of Laois Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA), said that the horse problem was never as bad in her 12 years with the group.

On Wednesday, the group received a callout to an abandoned horse, which subsequently had to be euthanised.

“The government does not accept that there is a horse crisis in Ireland that the LSPCA and other SPCAs around the country are dealing with. We cannot cope with it at all. Something needs to be done at a national level.

“The legislation is there that every horse has to be microchipped and passported, but it’s not being carried forward. You cannot take them to court. They just deny it. Everybody knows who they belong to. They just say ‘it’s not my horse’.”

Ms Walker said that the horse problem necessitated that some be put down.

“No-one wants to see a healthy horse put down, but it’s better to euthanise it than to see it starve in a field.”

As the value of horses plummeted in recent years, they are being regarded as disposable and their welfare needs are not being met.

She added: “People are going up to these sorts of horse fairs and getting them for €10. These kids are getting horses for €10 and €20 and they do not know how to keep them or have a field for them. They are being kept in back gardens.”

The cost to Laois Co Council of removing these dead horses is substantial.

In 2013, 72 dead animals were removed by the council at a cost €6,450; 24 of these animals were horses, at a cost of around €3,600. The price of disposal of offal has gone up at knackeries, so Laois Co Council faces increased charges this year of around €200 per horse.

There has been a marked increase since the start of 2014, with Laois Co Council removing seven dead horses at a cost of €1,476. The figure is almost certainly higher, as it does not take into account calls directly to the knackery from other individuals and bodies like An Garda Síochána.

In many instances, dead horses are being dumped in the middle of the night. A jeep or van will pull up to a location and ropes will be tied around the head or limbs of the animal and then to a wall, fence or post. The vehicle will just drive away, yanking the dead animal out.

It’s believed that a sizeable proportion of the abandoned horses are related to the travelling community.

Coordinator of the Laois Traveller Action Group (LTAG) Julie Nevin is keen to stress that it is not a problem confined to travellers, but also settled people. She recalled one incident of a trolley tied to the back of a horse belonging to settled people in a Portlaoise estate.

However, Ms Nevin said that whoever is involved in the mistreatment of horses “cannot hide behind their culture.”

LTAG runs a weekly horse group, where the welfare of horses is discussed among travellers who keep horses, and a horse expert.

“The people we are dealing with are good with horses. Unfortunately, the ones needed to be targeted do not darken our doorsteps,” said Ms Nevin.

Ms Nevin said that LTAG is a small group and it is limited to what it could do.

“We cannot go out and drag people in from the streets. We’re open to every traveller in the county. Unfortunately, the people that are involved are not coming to us,” she said.

She added: “Personally, whether it’s travellers or settled people, I think it’s a very, very bad thing (mistreatment of horses). I do think whether it’s settled people or travellers involved, they should be charged and made to pay for what they have done. They cannot hide behind their culture.”