Scramblers, Rickshaws and untouchable Sulkies

national | animal rights | press release Monday July 23, 2018 20:30 by B Wright - Alliance for Animal Rights

Lets hit the REAL problem

As some of our Politicians try to get scramblers under new Irish Legislation and other TDs shout about cycle rickshaws being dangerous, the elephant in the room i.e SULKY RACING is treated with silence. When we enquire about Sulkies, we are shuffled from the Dept of Agriculture to Department of Transport to the Gardai , no one wants to know.
Sulky racing causes extreme suffering, distress and death to horses nationwide and also poses an unacceptably high risk to public safety.

A young horse was seriously injured when they broke free from a sulky they were forced to pull on the Kilkenny to Waterford Road then smashed into an oncoming vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was uninjured but was left badly shaken by the incident. Due to the severity of the horses’s injuries, a vet had to be called to the scene to euthanize the horse to prevent further suffering.

Driving young horses and ponies flat out at excessive speed on Ireland’s busy roads, often by children as young as 10-years-old, is seriously risking lives, mainly the lives of innocent road users and horses.
All it takes is one trip or stumble from the innocent horse which can be fatal, cause a significant injury to the horse or cause a serious road traffic collision. A pregnant motorist who was forced to swerve off the road after she encountered five cars driving across both lanes, this is what Sulky racing entails the race followers flank all sides to allow the race to go unhampered in protecting a sulky race, a 12 year old boy was also killed in an accident involving a sulky car on a public road .
Kilkenny Gardai are investigating one incident and are believed to be considering a number of charges including endangerment, animal cruelty and neglect. CCTV footage of the shocking incident shows the harnessed horse racing down the road before it smashed into a stop sign. Another horse smashed into an oncoming vehicle.
The family of the 12-year-old boy killed in the accident involving a sulky car on a public road say they hope new regulations can prevent further loss of life.
Sean Doyle (12) from Clondalkin, sustained catastrophic injuries after he was thrown from a sulky car beneath the axles of an oncoming truck. He was one of three passengers on the sulky when the accident happened.

The unfortunate horses are forced and whipped in to a terrified state by men and children for their kicks and no one has proposed that this stupidity be banned outright other than animal protection groups. Who has heard of anyone being killed here by cycle rickshaw collisions or by scramblers on public roads.? Have these vehicles caused accidents, disrupted traffic with their stupid antics or driven themselves into other vehicles, the answer is NO. Yet the weak legislators target the soft targets and ignore the real danger to road users and to defenceless horses and ponies. Pavee Point believes an overall ban on the sport would also result in the races becoming even more dangerous. This is purely twisted logic..

Get with the banning of all Sulkys whether racing or not. No animal should be used by people for their life threatening kicks. Gardai do not want to know when calls reporting sulkies are reported. Some facts and figures below.

• https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/anim...rses/

Bernie Wright, press officer.
Alliance for Animal Rights
PO Box 4734. Dublin.1

Ph. 0872651720