Councillor calls for action to prevent cruelty

The CSP Chair confirmed that the PSNI have had cause, within the past few months, to impound a number of horses and ponies which were running loose on the roads which had created a serious danger to traffic.

She said: "In the interest of road safety the PSNI had reason to call in the RSPCA to deal with several ponies that were suffering from serious neglect.

"The RSPCA need to carry out a meticulous inspection of the area to ensure that no animals are being left to suffer and die in secluded spots.”

Cllr O’Dowd expressed her concern over this week's discovery of a pony’s skeleton within a few metres of a residential area and in a place regularly frequented by young children: “I have serious concerns this animal died and was left to rot close to a residential area. The bad weather ensured that children were kept away and that was fortunate and spared them the trauma of seeing the scavenged remains.”

The councillor said residents were confident that the animal had died within the past couple of months and attributed the fact that there had been no noticeable smell to the particularly cold bout of weather.

She said: "Local people I have spoken with are firmly of the belief that the carcass was eaten by other animals and that in itself, causes concern, as we have no way of telling whether the unfortunate animal died from starvation or a disease which could now be infecting other animals.”