Ireland's homeless horses face mass cull

They are the four-legged victims of Ireland's recession whose plight animal welfare organisations say can only be solved now by a mass national cull.

Bought as trophy-pets during the Celtic Tiger boom years, homeless horses now run wild in their thousands across the Republic, most abandoned by owners who have no money for their upkeep.

Ireland has the highest horse population per capita in the whole of Europe. Although there are no official figures, animal charities estimate that up to 20,000 horses could be owner-less and fending for themselves.

And with the prospect of a harsh winter and no let up in the economic gloom, the Dublin Society for the Protection of Animals now says the only solution to the problem is to cull those animals left to forage for themselves.