Horse doused in petrol and set alight in 'depraved' attack

UNITED KINGDOM -- ANIMAL welfare officers branded it one of the worst scenes of "depraved cruelty" they had witnessed, after a horse was doused in petrol and burnt alive.

Gardai have increased patrols in the Killinarden area of Tallaght, Dublin after a number of violent incidents.

The horse was set on fire in the early hours of yesterday morning, and gardai believe three teenagers were involved in the attack.

Gardai worked with the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) to remove five other horses from the green area where the horse was burnt alive.

Brian Gillen, the DSPCA's CEO, said the horrendous death the horse had endured was unimaginable.

"Whilst we encounter many horrific cruelty and neglect cases with regard to abandoned horses, we have never seen such levels of deliberate and depraved cruelty," he said.

(Irish Independent - Nov 29, 2013)