Shocking sulky race takes over Kildare motorway

A shocking incident on the N7 motorway near Naas on Friday (17 April) has re-ignited urgent calls for stricter enforcement of road safety laws and stronger protections for animal welfare after footage of sulky racing was revealed to a local horse charity.

The disturbing video, understood to have been shot on Friday, shows a convoy of cars using the N8 to run a horses in sulkies placing lives at risk and subjecting animals to potentially harmful conditions.

"This is not just an animal welfare issue - it’s now also a public safety issue,” said a spokesperson for the Broadford-based charity My Lovely Horse. "No regard for anyone’s safety and absolutely no regard for those poor horses.

“Sadly it’s not an isolated incident, we know too well the consequences of horses running for their lives and left to die on our roads, with rescue volunteers continuously picking up the pieces of a broken justice system.

“We are continuing to campaign for a dedicated Garda Animal Crime Unit and have launched on online petirion. Enough is enough. 

“This is not culture. This is reckless disregard for the law for public safety and for animal welfare”.

“Motorists travelling at speed were forced into sudden braking and evasive manoeuvres as the motorway was effectively blocked by a group participating in what appears to be an organised sulky race.

“The potential for a catastrophic collision endangering drivers passengers and the riders themselves was immense.

“This incident raises serious concerns under multiple areas of Irish law including road traffic legislation which strictly prohibits the presence of horses and horse-drawn vehicles on motorways."

The issue was raised recently in the Senate by Senator Fiona O’Loughlin even before the footage was released.

“Only last night somebody brought it to my attention and sent me a photograph,” she said.

“I was glad I did not see the videos that are circulating because I could not look at them.

“They show the terror and the pain and the carnage on the roads.

"We cannot blame the 13-year-old who was in charge of the horse, we have to blame the people who put the 13-year-old in charge of the horse.

“We absolutely need enforcement around sulky racing … and sometimes the speed they go at is shocking.

“It is absolute cruelty of the highest order.

“We 100 per cent need regulation and we will, again ask the Minister for Agriculture to come in.

“I know my colleague Senator Barry Andrews has called for a debate on animal welfare.

“We are well overdue one, and we need to include sulky racing in that as well”.