The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

THE RSPCA is supposed to do what it stands for — namely the prevention of cruelty to animals.

If the recent events in Buckinghamshire are anything to go by then perhaps they should have a rethink of their lofty aims and claims.

A man who has been dealing in horses for about 25 years was running a farm where the level of neglect to the animals defies belief.

I saw the images on television and I struggle to understand how anybody can look at the poor animals on a daily basis and not be moved by their plight.

According to one report it is estimated that up to 20,000 horses may have suffered.

This did not happen overnight so a disturbing factor is the fact the RSPCA had been made aware some years before that some things were not right at this farm but still managed to do nothing.

An RSPCA superintendent admitted that although the owner of the farm was known to them and they did have concerns about the horses they nevertheless decided that conditions were at a legally-acceptable level during their visits.

What exactly does legally-acceptable level mean in plain and simple language? It sounds like spin and a major cop-out to me.

Did they not notice the dead and rotting carcasses?

Who was the person or persons who carried out the visits?

There are questions that need to be asked and answered and somebody should be held to account.

If they neglected to do their job properly resulting in the continuing cruelty and neglect of these defenceless animals then they should be held accountable.

The real culprit of course is the man who was directly responsible for the welfare of the horses.

These animals only represented money to him because he was selling them abroad for meat.

He is thought to have bought animals from car parks near markets around the country.

It is also thought that he might have been operating a knackers yard offering to take away unwanted animals.

The RSPCA say they did not have the necessary legal power to remove the suffering animals and eventually called in the police after a recent visit.

I would have thought that the simple fact that members of the public felt strongly enough about it to report it would have ensured a thorough investigation and decisive action long before now.

The fact that this individual was able to get away with it for so long bears testament to the ineffective and downright useless monitoring by the RSPCA.