It’s emerged that Carlow county council put down all of the horses seized in the county last year.
New figures show that Kilkenny also put most of the horses that they seized to sleep.
In 2016 a total of 2,125 horses were seized by local authorities around the country and, of those, 1,741 were euthanised.
Carlow County Council was one of just 4 authorities that euthanised all of the horses they seized, which was 76.
Meanwhile, in Kilkenny the number for last year was lower than that, at 52 seized and 46 put down.
Two were re-homed and four were reclaimed by their owners.
Examining the figures for the past four years, the number of horses taken by Kilkenny’s local authority has been steadily declining – coming down from 99 in 2013 – while Carlow’s has been slightly more erratic.
The council with the highest number of horses euthanised last year was South Dublin at 250 out of 266 seized.
KCLR News has contacted both Carlow and Kilkenny local authorities to find out exactly what the protocol is surrounding the seizure of a horse and what happens to the animal thereafter.
