Using hidden cameras, RTÉ Investigates filmed the activity in a lairage used by Shannonside Foods in Straffan, Co, Kildare, where the company keeps horses before they are brought to the kill room.
Shannonside Foods told RTÉ that any allegation of an equine being mistreated “will be fully prosecuted”.
The recordings show horses being repeatedly hit, whipped, punched around the head, and struck with long lengths of plastic piping.
One horse was seen falling and being too weak to stand to be later prodded with a pitchfork. It died after hours of struggling and was seen dragged out of the shed the next day.
Those responsible for the “abhorrent” treatment of horses will face the “full rigours of the law”, the agriculture minister said.
Charlie McConalogue said the scenes of the mistreatment of horses were “abhorrent and distressing”.
Horse Racing Ireland said it will “actively support” the Department of Agriculture and Garda investigations, and urged anyone with information about mistreatment of horses to report it to gardai.
“The scenes we saw last night and the treatment of those horses was abhorrent and distressing. Horses are beautiful, sensitive animals and that was absolutely unacceptable,” Mr McConalogue said.
“It’s certainly not representative of the way that people across this country and those in the industry treat and care for their horses. We already have commenced an investigation in the Department of Agriculture.
“We’ve also requested all of the footage that RTÉ has, and any other evidence as well to make it available to the investigation team.
“Obviously, I would avoid saying anything that might be prejudicial to the conduct of that investigation. But I can assure you and I can assure the public that this will be fully investigated, and that the full rigour of the law will be applied here.
“The law is adequate but what we saw last night was not lawful, and it was breaches of the law.”
The Fianna Fáil minister said there are strict laws in place around the management of what enters the human food chain.
He said that no stone will be left unturned in the investigation.
He said that the traceability of horses has been “significantly improved” over the last 10 years.
“The system in place at European level is an evolving process and we’ve done a lot here in Ireland over the last 10 years,” he added.
Asked whether he can ensure that no horses are being beaten today, the minister said: “You can never be sure that somebody is not mistreating in any avenue of life, but what we have in place is very strict laws and very strict penalties in relation to that.
“What I’m also very sure of is right across our equine industry, that people and everyone involved in that industry are massively respectful and provide tremendous care to the horses – but you can have incidents where people mistreat and break that law.
“Certainly the incidents we saw last night speak to that and the full rigours of the law now will be brought to bear in relation to the evidence that has been brought to this.”
It was revealed that two-thirds of those horses were thoroughbred racehorses who raced over 3,000 times, earning their owners more than €1.5 million on Irish and European tracks.
Minister McConalogue had told the Irish Independent in a statement that the Government has already started the investigation.
The investigation shows how some horses are slaughtered while others are traded in deals in the equine industry and the abuse they can suffer after they leave the spotlight.
This year, the racing industry received €76m in State support while thousands of horses are bred each year to sustain it.
Due to concerns for the welfare and the treatment of horses by some associated with the Shannonside Foods Ltd slaughterhouse, RTÉ monitored activity in the lairage shed where Department of Agriculture inspectors don’t have a remit to regulate or inspect.
This shed is where horses are held and screened in the days leading up to their slaughter.
Photo: RTÉ Investigates.
The Department of Agriculture told RTÉ the lairage is not part of the approved premises over their jurisdiction but “evidence of illegal activity” “will be appropriately investigated”.
The second part of RTÉ Investigates: Horses – Making a Killing airs tonight at 9.35pm on Prime Time on RTÉ One. It’s also available on RTÉ Player.
John Osborne, director of equine welfare and bloodstock with Horse Racing Ireland who looks after the thoroughbred sector, described the abuse shown on the programme as “abhorrent” and “disgusting”.
“I have been a vet for over 30 years. My dad, my wife, and my sister were a vet, that’s 150 years of horse care. And in all those years, I haven’t heard or seen anything quite like it,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“It was not in any way reflective of my lived experience around the horses all those years. It was shocking to watch.”