Senior vet accuses public of 'jumping on the bandwagon' after horse abuse allegations at abattoir

While Shannonside Foods had been the subject of five complaints between 2018 and 2023, none had resulted in any sanction following their investigation. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

One of the country’s most senior vets has accused the public of “jumping on the bandwagon” amid the outrage stemming from animal abuse at Ireland’s only horse abattoir.

Michael Sheahan, deputy chief veterinarian at the Department of Agriculture, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that it receives a thousand complaints a year regarding animal welfare issues and “we can’t be in 130,000 premises”.