BackgroundThe Irish Horse Industry expanded during the Celtic Tiger boom years, then contracted in the current economic recession. High value horses were traditionally controlled through sale at public auction, private sales and sales to dealers; these are now also being reduced by decreases in production (> 40%), and increases in retirement, re-homing, euthanasia and disposal through Category 2 plants and abattoirs. The absence or banning of horse abattoirs has been shown to have very significant welfare social and economic consequences in the USA. This study described the currently available data on the demographics of unwanted horses in Ireland from 2005 to 2010.ResultsThe majority of horses euthanised by practicing veterinarians are destroyed on medical grounds but the number euthanised at the request of welfare groups and the state, as well as welfare related calls and the number of horses involved in these calls and subsequent visits is increasing reflecting the increasing involvement of the veterinary profession in equine welfare. Welfare groups have limited resources and do not have a tradition of recording data, but they too have reported increasing calls, visits and numbers of horses per visit. Welfare groups provide significant service to equine welfare and the community. Local Authorities report similar trends. Over 300 horses were found dead or required immediate or subsequent euthanasia following welfare group and local authority visits in 2010, which is of national concern. The majority of local authority interfaces with unwanted horses are with urban (60%) rather than rural (40%) horses. Mortality figures are poor indicators of non-fatal neglect. More horses were admitted into the care of local authorities than welfare groups, reflecting significant state and taxpayer investment in the control of low value horses. Category 2 plants and abattoirs represent a significant state investment in licensing and control in the national interest. Abattoirs provide an increasingly important and essential service for the disposal of unwanted horses. Despite the increase in unwanted horses, Ireland is a minority contributor to the EU slaughter total.ConclusionsThere is a need for annual demographic data compilation and review of the numbers of unwanted horses and ponies within the horse industry to assist policy makers and legislators.

This report compiles the available information on unwanted horses in Ireland for 2011 and 2012 and builds upon the previous report for the period 2005 to 2010. Similar trends are present in the high value responsible ownership category and the practicing veterinary profession although extensively involved in horse welfare, euthanises a small proportion of Ireland’s unwanted horses. Welfare groups have limited resources and a limited ability to deal with such an extensive problem, which has involved very large numbers of horses. Local authorities continue to have to devote significant efforts and calls on public finances to deal with unwanted horses. Those that they have to deal with are, in the main, not identifiable by either passports or microchips. Category 2 plants and abattoirs continue to provide the principal means of disposal of unwanted horses. The need for abattoirs continues to increase and it is essential that these facilities remain in operation. They processed more than 49,000 horses between 2010 and 2012. The samples they have to submit for Trichinella testing are the most sensitive indicator of the extent of the unwanted horse problem and the most immediate source of information on when it may begin to abate. Trichinella sample numbers and this by inference, horses ponies and donkeys sent to slaughter have fallen by some 35% from 2012 numbers, in the year to date (2013). This may reflect the commercial decision to cease horse slaughter by two slaughterhouses that had hitherto provided this service. Their commercial decision was not in any way related to the identification of fraudulent mislabeled beef in other plants.

Little is known about hepatic T lymphocyte subpopulations in the human liver. The aim of this study was to document the various subpopulations present in the liver and compare them to peripheral T lymphocytes in the same patients. Normal hepatic tissue was obained at time of transplant from five patients, and a single cell suspension of lymphocytes were prepared by standard methods. Ceils were stained with monoclonal antibodies specific for CD8ct and CD8B chains, CD4, CD8, CD3, o~BTCR, and ySTCR, and analyzed by two and three colour flow cytometry. Of the hepatic CD3+ cells, 71% were CD8+ and 25% were CD4+, with a CD4/CD8 ratio of 1:3 in contrast to the peripheral CD4/CD8 ratio of 2:1.18% of the hepatic CD3+ cells expressed ySTCR. Significantly, CD8~ct accounted for 27% [mean] of the total hepatic CD8+ population. Conclusion: There is now evidence that the adult human gut can support extrathymic T cell differentation. A significant population of hepatic CD8txct cells would suggest that the liver is also a site of extrathymic differentiation, which may have important implications for the understanding of autoimmunity and graft tolerance.

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