Local Animal Rights Group Urges Special Garda Training For Investigating Animal Crime Scenes

Thursday, 24 October 2024 15:35

By Martin Osborne

My Lovely Horse Rescue also called for a dedicated Garda unit to deal solely with animal abuse.

There has been a call for a dedicated Garda unit to combat animal abuse and provide training for evidence gathering at animal crime scenes.

Speaking at an Oireachtas committee meeting yesterday, Martina Kenny, from My Lovely Horse Rescue in Kildare, said there are not enough gardai available to deal with the massive amounts of abuse that the volunteer group is dealing with.

She said the Gardai could educate people on animal abuse and attend court during animal abuse cases.

She said some Gardai work with the charity on a volunteer basis but other countries have dedicated police to deal with animal abuse.

Citing the Netherlands as an example, Kenny described how their police units not only investigate animal abuse crimes but also train officers on how to gather evidence that stands up in court. "Prosecutions are key," she said.

"The more convictions we secure, the louder the message that animal abuse will not be tolerated."

The committee also heard how Gardai "struggle" with the gathering of evidence at animal crime scenes and that training in the area is lacking.

Meanwhile, the charity also slammed the Government for increasing funding for horse and greyhound racing by €4.1m.

The move will bring total state funding for greyhound racing to €19.8 million annually.

Kildare South TD Martin Heydon told the Dáil that the greyhound racing industry is “an integral part of the social fabric of our country”.

He said the horse racing sector directly and indirectly supports 30,000 jobs, while the greyhound industry supports 4,000 jobs.

Last year, My Lovely Horse Rescue received €54,000 from the Department of Agriculture.

According to volunteers, however, that money would only cover one bill "out of many huge bills".

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said she doesn't understand why the Government "is it so insistent the greyhound racing is an integral part of our culture when race tracks are virtually empty around the country?"