IRELAND'S only horse-meat factory has had to run disposal "waiting lists" as a result of over-breeding of thoroughbreds for racing syndicates during the boom years. Animal welfare activists said that it is just one indicator of an increase in the number of horses being destroyed and abandoned due to the recession.

Last year, Dublin City Council 'seized' 251 – non-thoroughbred – horses at a cost of more than €300,000.

According to the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), there is now a surplus of thoroughbred horses being delivered to BF Meats in Kilkenny. The company's managing director Ted Farrell confirmed that it has had to run waiting lists of up to two weeks to meet demand, but dismissed industry rumours of six-month backlogs.

"At one stage last year, there was a two-week waiting list but as they come in, we take them in," he said. "We would let people hold them for a couple of weeks."

Up to 100 horses a week were being slaughtered at the facility at one stage, from around 30 the previous year.

The animals are professionally killed under veterinary supervision and inspection, and the meat product is shipped primarily to Belgium and France.

Most horse owners who want to dispose of a registered animal approaches BF Meats, which then pays for the animal. The only alternative is to pay for its destruction by a vet and the disposal of the carcass.

"If I say to someone, 'look I can't take the horse for a month to five weeks', and they need the stable the next week, they will do something else with the animal," said Farrell.

Michael O'Hagan of Horse Racing Ireland said that while there was a rise in thoroughbred breeding in Ireland in recent years, race horses were being "euthanised" in a humane and professional manner.

"It's fine to tell a story but tell the whole story. There may well be a rise in the number of thoroughbreds that are being destroyed for one reason or another but you can be assured that they are being dealt with in a humane way," he said.

The problem does not lie with those owners who deliver horses to BF Meats, more so with those who simply abandon them, according to the DSPCA. "They [BF Meats] are providing a service. The fact that an owner can no longer afford to keep their animal and takes it for humane disposal is responsible," said the DSPCA spokeswoman.

"It is very sad but we are much more concerned about those irresponsible owners who are simply abandoning them. I think it's going to get worse."