By-laws planned to combat ‘epidemic of out-of-control horses’

PLANS are being made for by-laws to combat an “epidemic of out-of-control horses” which is making many householders’ lives “a misery” in parts of Cork City.

A meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) heard horses had become so cheap in the past 18 months their numbers had exploded in the city and suburbs. Many were owned by younger teenagers who didn’t control them properly, with the result many were running wild.

The scale of the problem became apparent when Supt Tom Myers, who is in charge of policing in the Mayfield Garda district, said he had impounded more than 50 horses so far this year. He said they were mainly seized from the Banduff, Spring Lane and Ballyvolane areas and were sent to an official pound in Glenville.

Supt Charlie Barry said stray horses had caused problems in playing fields in the Togher area last June, while Gurranabraher-based Supt Con Cadogan said he had also encountered similar problems, especially in the Bride Valley View area.

Supt Cadogan said it cost just €100 to retrieve a horse from the official pound in Glenville and he believed that wasn’t a sufficient deterrent.

JPC chairman Cllr Patricia Gosh said she had been inundated with complaints from residents in the Ballyvolane area about loose horses.

The meeting heard that ‘control areas’ had been established in Limerick city to curtail horses and young people who wanted to keep them had to undergo a training course before they were allowed a licence to buy an animal.

Senator Jerry Buttimer said he was very concerned that stray horses could cause serious car accidents, and Supt Myers said that was one of the main reasons gardaí were keen to round them up. He said by-laws needed to be enacted to deal with the growing problem.

Chief Supt Michael Finn said that gardaí would formulate a detailed report on the whole issue which should be ready by January.