It is the third incident involving alarming horse neglect in under 12 months.
This latest incident happened last Friday morning (8 January) on a busy road between a main roundabout at the entrance of the city and a major supermarket.
A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Portugal News: “It was around 9.30am. I was on my way to work when I saw the police and a big truck lifting the dead horse from the side of the road. It was rush hour, there were lots of people and cars about and it was very upsetting to see.”
In response to the incident, a statement from Lagos council said: “according to what we have established, it is thought the horse belonged to an individual of gypsy ethnicity, and the animal was grazing on private land.”
The statement went on to explain: “It is suspected that the horse died of gas indigestion or toxins due to the intake of contaminated grass.”
It is not known whether or not the animal was properly microchipped and registered, but it appears authorities have not yet identified its owner.
“In situations such as this, where it is not possible to identify the animal’s owner, the PSP (police) and / or municipal veterinarian ask the Algarve branch of the DGAV (General Directorate for Food and Veterinary) for authorisation for the animal to be collected by SIRCA – the entity which officially collects animal corpses.
“Unfortunately”, Lagos council continued, “the process is not as fast as it could be, because transportation only comes twice a week. The collection of these animals is made by a truck with a crane for large tonnage.”
Lagos council stressed that while it “has no responsibility in these events, it regrets what happened.”
However, the witness, who has lived in the area for over a decade, argues that more should be done to inspect animals being put on private land.
“I saw them putting the horse there five days ago”, the bystander recalled, adding: “Nobody wants to do the job, but we as tax payers can make them. It makes me angry to see such things in such a beautiful country.”
It is the third incident involving apparently neglected horses to hit the city in less than 12 months.
In May last year a tourist spoke out after seeing a visibly ill-treated horse and cart tied to a lamp post outside the local court house.
He described the animal as badly undernourished and severely wounded.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, says he “went into the court building for assistance but the officials didn’t want to know” and that he “even reported the matter to a police officer and traffic warden ticketing vehicles on the other side of the road”, though nothing was done.
The tourist deemed the incident “pathetic, cruel and unacceptable treatment of animals which should be exposed, publicised and pursued.”
A month later, in June last year, another British tourist contacted the press after claiming to have witnessed a horse being beaten to death at “a gypsy camp” in full view of his Lagos holiday apartment.
The 56-year-old former police officer, Barry Harrison, described the ordeal as “sickening to witness” and vowed he would never return to the city.
That incident spurred the launch of an online petition asking local authorities for “support and collaboration” to resolve the allegedly recurring incidents, such as theft, threats and animal mistreatment, that are said to occur “every year” at the camp in Sítio da Falfeira, which is located directly behind the Lagos PSP police station.