SDLP Agriculture Spokesman
Joe Byrne has pledged to work for the highest standards possible to ensure the
protection of animals from cruelty.
Speaking during a Stormont debate on animal
cruelty this week, the vice chairperson of the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee
said what was concerning was the apparent lack of prosecutions and few
custodial sentences in relation to animal cruelty.
Mr Byrne said all allegations of abuse of
animals “must be investigated fully, and those responsible must be held to
account”. He called for tougher sentencing by the courts on those found guilty
of animal cruelty.
Mr Byrne said: “The incidents of cruelty we
have heard of over these past weeks and months are distressing, and it is
timely these issues were raised in Stormont. Anton Mc Cabe, a local Omagh
journalist who raised the issue of the horses that were being kept in the Clogher
Mountain region is to be congratulated.
“Many organisations have to fundraise to help
animals that are picked up in a distressed state. Grovehill Animal Trust is one
such organisation that I have been in contact with, and which has set up a
charity shop in Omagh to raise money to support their cause.
“The SDLP calls on the agencies involved to
work more closely together to increase intelligence sharing which could, in
turn, lead to more convictions. We have
a duty of care to the citizens and animals in this jurisdiction. We must use
all the methods at our disposal to ensure that we provide the necessary level
of protection that is needed by domestic and wild animals.”
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