2 tb mares at slaughter house :-(

As farmers, my family and I breed sheep to sell for slaughter, I dont particularly 'like' slaughterhouses/abatoirs, but at least it is quick, painless and (for the most part) local. I would have no qualms about going to a sale (Derby and Beeston are local to me) and buying the strag end foals/youngsters and old horses that would otherwise be bounced from place to place to take to an abatoir, if only to prevent them from going to unsuitable homes...however, I couldnt take one of my girls, they will always die at home
 
Fii-ling Festive said:
But if the mares are booked in to be slaughtered, you cant just "save" them, not without the owners consent anyway! The slaughter house cant sell them on.
Do you have a link to fb horse chit chat?
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That is correct which is why some years ago when someone was delivery calfs to the slaughter house & noticed a very heavy in-foal mare she had to be returned once the foal was weaned. The group of TB mares came from a well known stud, the person concerned persuaded the guy to let him take the mare, but it was on the understanding that she be returned once the foal was weaned. 3wks or so later she foaled a colt, who was never able to have full papers but went on to be a sucessful showjumper. His dam sadly went back to the slaughter house. The fact is 1000's are going & better that then some miserable existance in some field with some numpty owner, who knows bugger all. My own mare was meant to have been despatched, but as it was the knackerman not the slaughter house he was able to sell her on. There was a bit of symphathy in buying her, but she has done us proud & my daughter cant wait to have her back under saddle (currently in-foal).
 
Didnt mean to cause such debate when i posted this was just feeling sorry for the horses involved.

Can i just clarify that someone else has put the photos on - they are NOT on the facebook page as the mares at the slaughter house / meat man (hence them being over a year old and not linked to this post on facebook) and I only put info on here what was on the facebook post from the person posting on there.

No reason to think this is untrue.

Was just trying to help the mares I didnt know it was such a big problem to try help them, sorry all.
 
Then what was the point of linking the post and the pictures? Where are these mares, in Huddersfield or elsewhere? If they have been bought by the dealer I assume people mean, to take to the abbatoir, then I am sure they will have acceptable care until their despatch.
 
It was me who posted the photos, sorry. I followed a link to a fb profile which someone posted here and saw the photos on there. They were entiltled "The poor horses at a local auction" and I thought she was talking about the mares. On closer inspection I later realised they were different horses (ie another mare & foal, last year) but it was too late to remove the pics.

Sorry again for the confusion I caused. As I said earlier, the result of extreme tiredness on my part.
 
Goodness its so b***tchy on here, dont think I will bother again.

As i said above i was trying to help the mares by bringing their plight to the fore, no i dont have all the full details the person advertising on facebook does, hence the link to it.

***ends useage of the forums***
 
ha903070 said:
Goodness its so b***tchy on here, dont think I will bother again.

***ends useage of the forums***
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I personally don't find it "bitchy", just outspoken and yes, some people can be rather harsh. I didn't think this thread was harsh tbh though.

I do find you have to be quite thick-skinned on any forum, as people are more direct typing words on a keyboard than face-to-face. I think it's a shame to not use the forum again as it can be a valuable resource. But if it's not for you, fair enough.
 
I've read the majority of this thread

I just wanted to add that I think there are a lot of middle men referred to as "the meat man". Where you can indeed 'save' a horse from slaughter. Over 20 years ago we bought our first horse this way, collected by a lower end dealer and would end up at the slaughter house if not bought first. However they are not the slaughter houses themselves, but simply dealers.

In this case I think its a good thing the foals have been given another chance, but think its a shame about the mares, but if there are old and have not done much, it may well be a kinder fate.

My riding horses I am soppy about and they will be dealt with at home, I have also sent one to slaughter, which was a yearling on a punt by me, but with a wonky leg that was lame by 3. He went to potters, but I booked him in direct rather than take him as it was £50 to collect which is less than my diesel and this was all about cash. Sadly I only got just over £200 for prime 3 year old pure bred hanoverian!!

Now I have faith that the end at Potters is no worse then many other ends a horse could meet, and I watched a pony going through the process there on you tube and frankly it looked better than the injection method I witnessed at our equestrian vets.

I think waste is bad and if you can offer a horse a good home that is great, but if I was ever in a dire financial position I'd rather my oldies went to the slaughter house than ended up with a dubious future.
 
elderlycoupleindevon said:
Owners who sign their horses out of the foodchain are significantly reducing the options of the horse's owner at the time when that horse needs to be pts. A veterinary visit, administration of lethal injection and the subsequent collection and incineration, can run up to around £500.
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People who keep their horses in the food chain are also severely limiting medication that animal can receive - there are certain drugs that cannot be administered ever, if a horse is not signed out of the food chain. When I recently took my horse to hospital, I had to sign her out of the food chain there and then so that they had the freedom to administer any drugs which were needed.
 
If they go to the abbatoir they should not be sold on, if the meat man buys them then he can sell them on & it happens quiet often (I have one such animal). It might be that they advertise them while waiting to fill a lorry. They offer a good service & surely it has to beat the state that the chestnut mare is in.
 
SamanthaUK said:
I didnt know you could stay with them till the end.
What happens? Do they get shot? Or PTS by injection?x
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They are shot. The majority of privately owned horses get driven in, booked in and then unloaded and taken straight in to be shot- they come off the lorry and within 1 minute are quietly dispatched. Potters encourage owners to hold them if they feel they can- then the horse is with a familiar person and doesn't fret.
Horses which come in from dealers are put in pens with a nice straw bed and hay/water and killed later on in the day- the slaughterman goes and gets them very quietly and kindly.

I adore my horses but have to go to Potters quite regularly for scientific studies and I am always struck by how considerate the slaughtermen are and how quickly and professionally the whole thing is done.
 
TheMule said:
They are shot. The majority of privately owned horses get driven in, booked in and then unloaded and taken straight in to be shot- they come off the lorry and within 1 minute are quietly dispatched. Potters encourage owners to hold them if they feel they can- then the horse is with a familiar person and doesn't fret.
Horses which come in from dealers are put in pens with a nice straw bed and hay/water and killed later on in the day- the slaughterman goes and gets them very quietly and kindly.

I adore my horses but have to go to Potters quite regularly for scientific studies and I am always struck by how considerate the slaughtermen are and how quickly and professionally the whole thing is done.
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Oh so it's very quick and painless? I don't understand how you could stay with your horse as it's been shot. It would just fall over? Are you holding it or stood by it?x
 
SamanthaUK said:
Oh so it's very quick and painless? I don't understand how you could stay with your horse as it's been shot. It would just fall over? Are you holding it or stood by it?x
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The gun is held right up to the forehead so you can just stand in front/ slightly to the side and yes, the horse just falls onto its side. Dies instantly
 
TheMule said:
They are shot. The majority of privately owned horses get driven in, booked in and then unloaded and taken straight in to be shot- they come off the lorry and within 1 minute are quietly dispatched. Potters encourage owners to hold them if they feel they can- then the horse is with a familiar person and doesn't fret.
Horses which come in from dealers are put in pens with a nice straw bed and hay/water and killed later on in the day- the slaughterman goes and gets them very quietly and kindly.

I adore my horses but have to go to Potters quite regularly for scientific studies and I am always struck by how considerate the slaughtermen are and how quickly and professionally the whole thing is done.
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TheMule said:
The gun is held right up to the forehead so you can just stand in front/ slightly to the side and yes, the horse just falls onto its side. Dies instantly
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Thankyou for this. It makes very hard reading, but is actually quite reassuring. These events are facts of life and the idea that it's done with care and sensitivity is good to know.
 
I am going to make sure I am with mine ie hold it or be there as I know he will be suspicious of any stranger and would hate him to fret(and am determined my human emotion doesnt pass on to him). However that said some people have a good way with animals and I know our local hunt who regularly PTS/captive bolt are absolutely brilliant and kind to the horses they deal with. This is why its a shame a lot of the small abbattoirs were abolished with foot and mouth etc ie less animals less stress etc , more personal efficient service.

Sort of think its my duty and last thing I can do for him but Potters sound very professional set up. Would rather a horse be PTS than passed around. Get fed up reading adverts when the mare has bred tons of foals etc then she is for sale!! Poor thing.
 
Far better these horses are sent to slaughter than left in a field starving, cold with an unweaned foal dragging them down further, left to suffer and die, then dumped in a ditch somewhere, because that is exactly what would happen in the hands of some of the dealers n travelers that are getting rid of them, they won't pay for some nice vet to come out and have them pts!, least they have the small about of common sense or dignity or just simply admitting that they can't afford to keep them...call it defeat, to send them for slaughtering, its a sad state of affairs yes but its an end to more neglect, good on them I say for making a least one wise decision!
 
Holly Hocks said:
People who keep their horses in the food chain are also severely limiting medication that animal can receive - there are certain drugs that cannot be administered ever, if a horse is not signed out of the food chain. When I recently took my horse to hospital, I had to sign her out of the food chain there and then so that they had the freedom to administer any drugs which were needed.
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I completely understand that, I am not saying that I would withhold veterinary treatment. Owners have the option to leave that part of the passport unsigned until such an occasion arises.
 
indie999 said:
I am going to make sure I am with mine ie hold it or be there as I know he will be suspicious of any stranger and would hate him to fret(and am determined my human emotion doesnt pass on to him). However that said some people have a good way with animals and I know our local hunt who regularly PTS/captive bolt are absolutely brilliant and kind to the horses they deal with. This is why its a shame a lot of the small abbattoirs were abolished with foot and mouth etc ie less animals less stress etc , more personal efficient service.

Sort of think its my duty and last thing I can do for him but Potters sound very professional set up. Would rather a horse be PTS than passed around. Get fed up reading adverts when the mare has bred tons of foals etc then she is for sale!! Poor thing.
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I've just read up on Potters Abbatoir and they had an undercover welfare officer go look at it. They said it was awful. The horses were all together, biting each others necks, eyes wild, ears back. They must have known what was coming. The shots were ringing out constantly and the horses were freaking out.
When she said she was a racehorse breeder and was bringing her horse there she was taken to the actual 'killing room' and 'gutting facility'.
The horses were stood in a small metal room. A rifle held up to it's forehead and then shot. After that their bodies are just chucked down. Their hindlegs get tied up and they're hauled up into the air where they're gutted. Then they're let down roughly and pushed into a waiting trailer to be sent off to the butcher to get the cuts of meat.
The woman said she was physically sick after seeing it.
Not only this but pregnant mares were killed, then cut open and the unborn foals (even if alive) were shot and instantly killed.
And foals at foot were also taken to be killed, Seperate to their mothers.

The site even has some 'secret videos' of the slaughter. Although I couldn't bring myself to watch them.

Mixed opinions now..
 
SamanthaUK said:
I've just read up on Potters Abbatoir and they had an undercover welfare officer go look at it. They said it was awful. The horses were all together, biting each others necks, eyes wild, ears back. They must have known what was coming. The shots were ringing out constantly and the horses were freaking out.
When she said she was a racehorse breeder and was bringing her horse there she was taken to the actual 'killing room' and 'gutting facility'.
The horses were stood in a small metal room. A rifle held up to it's forehead and then shot. After that their bodies are just chucked down. Their hindlegs get tied up and they're hauled up into the air where they're gutted. Then they're let down roughly and pushed into a waiting trailer to be sent off to the butcher to get the cuts of meat.
The woman said she was physically sick after seeing it.
Not only this but pregnant mares were killed, then cut open and the unborn foals (even if alive) were shot and instantly killed.
And foals at foot were also taken to be killed, Seperate to their mothers.

The site even has some 'secret videos' of the slaughter. Although I couldn't bring myself to watch them.

Mixed opinions now..
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Have you got a link for this report?

I thought they had to use boltguns not rifles.
 
SamanthaUK, Animal Aid are notorious for reporting facts and figures incorrectly for their own agenda.s I'd be more inclined to listen to TheMule who has seen and visited Potters for her studies rather than read what I can only describe as propoganda on the Animal Aid website.
 
i was under the impression once animals enter the slaughter house there is only one way out they dont just let them in then someone go pick them up it is very sad and not nice at all but it is not uncomon
 
SamanthaUK said:
I've just read up on Potters Abbatoir and they had an undercover welfare officer go look at it. They said it was awful. The horses were all together, biting each others necks, eyes wild, ears back. They must have known what was coming. The shots were ringing out constantly and the horses were freaking out.
When she said she was a racehorse breeder and was bringing her horse there she was taken to the actual 'killing room' and 'gutting facility'.
The horses were stood in a small metal room. A rifle held up to it's forehead and then shot. After that their bodies are just chucked down. Their hindlegs get tied up and they're hauled up into the air where they're gutted. Then they're let down roughly and pushed into a waiting trailer to be sent off to the butcher to get the cuts of meat.
The woman said she was physically sick after seeing it.
Not only this but pregnant mares were killed, then cut open and the unborn foals (even if alive) were shot and instantly killed.
And foals at foot were also taken to be killed, Seperate to their mothers.

The site even has some 'secret videos' of the slaughter. Although I couldn't bring myself to watch them.

Mixed opinions now..
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Complete made up rot!

The horses are not all in together- some are in small pens of 1 or 2, there are some larger pens which sometime have 5 or 6 in and then there's a field where the moor ponies go. There is no stress, no panic and everything is very settled- I've been there at least 20 times and I've never heard so much as a whinny. The shots are actually very quiet- you wouldnt notice unless you were in there- theyre not loud sudden shot gun shots, theyre dulled noises

Once theyre dead (note they're dead now) they fall to the floor (get chucked down?!) they get chained around the hind pasterns and winched up and across to be bled- they are stuck with a knife and bled into tubs which are collected and spun down for the antibodies which get used in human medicine. After they've been bled they have the head cut off and then they get winched across and layed out to have the limbs cut off, to be skinned and finally butchered. I don't know how else you'd expect them to be processed for meat?!

If you're worried, go and see it for yourself
 
pricklyflower said:
SamanthaUK, Animal Aid are notorious for reporting facts and figures incorrectly for their own agenda.s I'd be more inclined to listen to TheMule who has seen and visited Potters for her studies rather than read what I can only describe as propoganda on the Animal Aid website.
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Please, Call me Sammy :).
I wouldn't know i've never heard of them. When I read this report though I felt awful. Brought tears to my eyes.
 
What did you think happened to the carcass? The animal is dead when it hits the floor, it must then be moved, can't think of any other way than dragging by the hind legs with chains tbh. Of course it is gutted and skinned, just like any other carcass. The bit about unborn foals, well it sounds as if they do the best they can for them, instant death. How do you think they move the horses pts at home? They are winched onto a lorry, with chains round the back legs. If you do not want to think about any horse dieing, then please do not enter into horse ownership.
I would much rather see the 'bin end' horses collected up by the dealers who take them for meat, than 'rescued' by people who have little or no idea of the reality of horse ownership.
 
pricklyflower said:
SamanthaUK, Animal Aid are notorious for reporting facts and figures incorrectly for their own agenda.s I'd be more inclined to listen to TheMule who has seen and visited Potters for her studies rather than read what I can only describe as propoganda on the Animal Aid website.
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^ this

Actually, I'm pretty dubious of most animal charities. They all seem to employ shock tactics to gain donations.
 
I watched the film on AnimalAid's site. It shows a grey pony trotting in, ears pricked. Same pony standing in a pen, looking round. Then an emotive bit of text saying this was once a child's pet, now discarded. :rolleyes: Then it's in a room with two men, then shot, dies instantly. The rest is about what happens to its remains, which I don't care about.

Unless I've missed something, where's the abuse?
 
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