A miniature horse had to be rushed up the country for treatment this week after being found 'running scared' with serious injuries in Cork.
This poor animal, who has since been named Halo, was spotted charged down a road in the Whitechurch area on Wednesday evening. Cork-based charity My Lovely Horse Rescue were contacted by concerned drivers who feared she might be hit by a vehicle, and Gardaí also responded to stop traffic in the area..
Volunteers worked carefully to lure this frightened animal into their horse box without scaring her, after which they noticed Halo had deep, foul-smelling wounds on her neck. The charity believes these are are either "severe bite wounds" or gashes caused by rubbing against barbed wire.
Volunteer Kelly Mellerick told CorkBeo the cuts are infected, deep and very old, which means that they can't be stitched closed. Halo is currently receiving treatment and plenty of love and care at the UCD Veterinary Clinic.
The charity has called for donations to support this animal and the range of other horses in their care, which include two orphaned foals taken in just this week.
The My Lovely Horse group have long been calling for stricter punishments of animal welfare violations and a dedicated Garda animal welfare crime unit to prevent incident like htis from occurring in the future.
This news comes after another 'sweet' horse was found dead after being 'dragged into bushes and hidden' near a Cork walkway this week.
Dog walker Lucy Kampff found the 'sweet' horse, which she had named Honey, dead by the Butlerstown river near a walkway in Glanmire last week. She first saw the animal in the area in early March and started to bring it food and water after growing concerned for its wellbeing - saying that it had a "tattered coat", looked "very bloated" and was tied to a tree with a short rope.
Lucy had also been regularly contacting Cork City Council and local animal charities to try and help Honey. One day however, she came down and found the animal's was dead and seemingly been dragged from out in the open and into nearby bushes.
And in late March, CorkBeo reported on another animal named Farah who was found malnourished and 'with burn marks' in the Rebel County. One of the horse's hind legs was also left with severe rope burn after being tied up for an extended period.
She was taken away for treatment by the My Lovely Horse Rescue group, who shared in an update she was being "absolutely spoiled" by the vets at the UCD Veterinary Hospital.
