Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) officials were bombarded with abuse and told “kill yourselves now” by members of the public after a BBC Panorama documentary exposed cruelty in the industry last year.
The semi-state agency received a flood of emails when the controversial programme was broadcast on July 19, some of which branded people working for the body “total scumbags” and “a f**king disgrace”.
A HRI spokeswoman confirmed that members of the public also contacted the agency by phone after the documentary revealed that successful racehorses were among thousands slaughtered in British and Irish abattoirs since 2019.
