Horses discharged from hospital despite swamp fever fears

THE Department of Agriculture has confirmed it allowed the discharge of horses from Troytown Equine Hospital last year even though it knew swamp fever was present in the Kildare facility.

The action came to light after the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) last week demanded compensation for four breeders, whose horses were among those returned by the department to nine premises after the outbreak was detected.

The breeders say they incurred financial loss when the department imposed movement restrictions on their premises, after releasing the horses from Troytown, in a bid to contain the swamp fever, known scientifically as equine infectious disease (EIA).