Finally, in our series of articles in Animal Rescuers in Ireland, we meet Tara from Cobh Rescue Horses, an organisation very dear to my own heart as it’s where my two ladies, Peanut and Pixie came from.

My first question is about you – and the people that work within your Centre – you guys see what no one should – you see animals suffering daily, you live in a reality that is most of our worst nightmares.. how do you cope with doing what you do? Does it affect your health – or your mentality?

To answer your first question about our members and the reality of the animal’s suffering and does it affect us, yes it surely does. You clearly would not be human, to not be affected by what we have seen. To try and understand how a human being can be responsible for some of what we have witnessed is quite disturbing at times.

Can you share with us – the worst case of animal cruelty, or neglect that will stay with you forever?

I can give you so many examples of what has come through our gate and each time you think to yourself “well it can’t get much worse than this” and it really does time and time again. At the beginning it was horses with bad wounds on their legs from ropes, thin and neglected, which we were getting in. After that we have had horses which were so starved and neglected they literally shared their last hour of life with us, the only consolation being they had finally learnt in that short time what love was. We have had so many starving mares who were heavy in foal, turn a corner in a matter of a week of tlc, which just shows human neglect at its finest. We have had a yearling with a gunshot wound which will haunt me for the rest of my life, as I will never forget the smell of death from his face. One of the worst and cruel things I’ve seen is a small pony whose legs were so deformed and her little hooves had grown so wrong, she couldn’t walk properly, but left to survive for a number of years like this. This poor girl under veterinary advice had to be put to sleep.

Another which comes straight to mind is a foal who was rescued from a yard where a passerby spotted a pack of dogs who were starting to tackle her as their next meal. This foal had been taken off her mom and discarded. She was so young and thin and full of wounds and bite marks when she arrived but after a lot of TLC turned into the most beautiful girl. We have had a stallion with an open wound the length of his neck, running down the front of his chest from a traffic accident and the list goes on. A large number of rescues are so afraid when they arrive having been beaten and bullied by humans and take a lot of time to regain trust.

There’s even been one case which was so disturbing,whatever human had this mare should not be walking the streets. The one that broke me was when we got a call about 17 horses all needing our help. When we got there, we were met with a lot of large horses and between the front 2 horses I saw a little bit of movement. The smallest little baby boy who didn’t belong to any of the mares used the last of his energy to drag himself to the front for help. We took him into the horse box where he collapsed and had to be carried out when he got him home. A week of tlc later, most of which was spent in a sling, he was good enough to stand on his own. Our gorgeous Floki never looked back and is the most beautiful boy. The sight of him that first day with his last push for help is something I’ll never forget. 

I refer to everyone in rescue, as “Earth Angels” – because you all are. Selflessly helping these animals, working all hours and always being ready to help. Do you ever stop and think of all the amazing work you do – and what an incredible person you are for doing so? Modesty doesn’t belong here – so please answer freely!

I must explain also though what actually keeps us going is when we see these animals grow their own little personalities and learn how to love and go back out our gate to loving homes and getting wonderful updates ,that’s what warms our hearts. This is also why we love to support the rescue classes at shows because you get to see so many past rescues and their wonderful new families, it fills us with pride watching them strut their stuff knowing where they have come from.

The only answer I can give you to this question is again when we see these rescues in their new homes with love and care surrounding them, that’s when we see our work paying off which really keeps us going. A few tears have been shed watching some of the updates and seeing these beautiful animals loving their new lives ,that’s when we think back and feel like what we do makes a difference. Seeing where they come from to how they turn out is what makes it all worth it for us.

Do you fear for the future of Irish animals? It seems to be getting worse with no end in sight, despite having some of the strictest animal welfare laws in Europe – judges are just not giving the apt punishments and police are limited in their capabilities. Do you see ever see things getting better?

No, unfortunately I don’t see things getting better in the near future. Yes, we have laws to protect our animals but in my opinion, some of these “previous owners” laugh at the law as they believe themselves to be above it. Especially when the laws are not implemented. I personally have been in situations where I have been at welfare case sites where certain individuals have threatened us and in my opinion between the guards, security staff who seize these horses and anyone with any involvement have all been treated the same. I know of people who were followed home and had individuals sit in a car outside their home just to intimidate them. Until strict laws are implemented to stop this carry on , it will just continue. 

Our law states that every horse owner must have an E.P.R.N which is an equine premises registration number and a passport for their equine. You must produce them if your horse is picked up by the council if they break out of their field and are loose on the roads or are a welfare issue.  Of any equine who has come through our gates I can say 99% never had a passport. As far as E.P.R.N , these are free. The general thought is why bother when the law is not implemented. We see this time and time again. In my opinion I believe wardens should be put in place to police this issue. Obviously with body cam and in some cases I have no doubt there would be a call for The Emergency Response Unit to assist. It should be very simple, if your horse does not have a passport or is not on registered land then they should be seized. Any acts of violence or harassment shough carry a tough punishment. I believe it’s the only way to clean up what is happening these days regarding animal welfare. 

How do you think Ireland compares with the likes of the UK – who to me – seems to deal a lot better with animal welfare control..

I cannot speak for the animal welfare control in the UK but as I said above until we sort our countries welfare control it will just keep going with rescues having to pick up the pieces for what you might call ” lucky ones” who survive it all and make their way to a rescue centre.

I would imagine it is incredibly hard not to form bonds and love with these animals you care so much for – often – animal rescuers are the first point of contact that show love and kindness to so many of them – do you think saying goodbye to that animal is as hard on them, as it is for you, when the move onto new homes?

We can all speak about how amazing it is to watch these beautiful animal’s progress in their new lives which is an unbelievable feeling but there is also the point when they first arrive and most are skinny and depressed and there is no light in their eye. When they come off the ramp and into a fluffy bed of straw and have hay and water at hand while we assess them. Most you will see after a while will lie down and just sleep. They are exhausted from all the hardship. That is a point of happiness for anyone in rescue I believe, when the horse is safe with a good bed, food and water and relaxed enough to have a sleep. That’s the point where you can say we have another gentle soul saved. 

It can be very tough to say goodbye to some of them but we just like to call it a “see you later”. We get so many updates it’s great to keep in touch and watch them progress. It would be selfish of us to stop a rescue leaving because of our love for them when we know there’s another neglected equine out there waiting to step in our gates. It also is great to watch them progress in their new homes when they have one to one handling constantly compared to in a group environment with us. As for them when they move to a new family they have so much love and attention I’m sure they forget all about us and just celebrate their new life.

What advice would you give to anyone who is looking to get involved with an animal rescue center such as yours? Is there any advice you wish you’d been given before you started?

Instead of giving advice I’d like to give a bit of information. We get a large number of people wanting to volunteer in the summer as it’s warmer and less muddy and people aren’t too keen on being out in the horrible weather. We do have a certain amount of rescues in the yard during the summer as there is always comings and goings. However, this is also our chance to move our horses to grazing for their summer holidays where they can just be horses and relax eat and sleep. It’s a wonderful time of year when you can watch them bucking for fun, excited to be out and happily grazing. Winter time is a different time completely. With the fields being wet horses have to come out of them and go to either a stable or all weather area. With no grass horses are on hard feed and hay and need mucking out. There’s so much more to do in the winter and it’s a lot more time consuming so I would just like people who would like to volunteer to think about maybe doing it in the wintertime. Plenty of horses on hand who also need grooming and cuddles. One bit of advice… just bring wellies!!

Finally – has you ever rescued an animal that you just couldn’t let get away and adopted yourself?

Over the years I think we all may have held onto a rescue or 2 and adopted them to our own homes. I personally work with horses also as my day job and have adopted 4 smallies over my time there so far as babysitters for the horses at work!! I’ve adopted Casper, Ziggy, Blondie and Gizmo all of which are the most adored little ponies and living an amazing life.