99% of horses end their lives prematurely in the slaughter house

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Wheels

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Only 1% live out their days in a loving home

This is a claim made by a local charity that I've just seen on facebook.

Is this true? I would have thought not but then maybe I'm wrong - what do you think? & is there some agency that has come up with this statistic?
 
Sounds untrue, they probably picked it off the top of their heads. But then it depends who owns the horses, I find that farmers have no problem sending to the factory, whereas leisure riders do.
 
Sounds like complete rubbish to me. The only way that statistic could be true is if they count putting a sick animal to sleep as going to the slaughterhouse. These days we tend to put horses down before they drop dead, which is no bad thing.
 
Seems high, even including all the foreign ones bred for meat and low-value moorland ponies which go to slaughter from the round-ups.
 
Might be somewhere near if you include racehorses. I wonder what they class as natural lives? I have sent one to a slaughterhouse when she was too old to maintain her position in the herd - wouldn't do it now but at one time it was the accepted means of PTS.
 
Maybe depends on where they are taking their sample from. If just the UK, I would imagine this figure is far too high. If they are including Europe, or beyond, then who knows!

I'm fairly sure that there is worse fates for a horse than ending up in a slaughter house however.
 
I can't believe that's true. Being put down when they could have hobbled around for 20 more years is probably included in their "slaughter house" statistic.

I've never seen a horse at an abattoir, and I'm there on a professional basis regularly, I don't know a single person who has used an abattoir as a means of dispatch either.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I've never seen a horse at an abattoir, and I'm there on a professional basis regularly.
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There were only two in the UK which were licensed to slaughter horses. Potters near Bristol was one (and still is as far as I know) and the infamous Turners of Red Lion Abbatoir at Nantwich was the other. Their license was rescinded in the horse meat scandal a few years ago and I'm not sure whether it has been reinstated since, but only two in the UK would have to be going some to accommodate 99% of the horses who end their days in any given year?
 
I don't know anyone whose horse has been put down at an abbatoir. Normally it's the hunt or vet, since it can't be 99% in UK
Prematurely is a subjective statement, one persons premature is another's doing what is best for the horse.
 
Potters still have a waiting time even now, last year at end Oct it was a3 week wait, but they are definitely not the preferred choice as most that are pts round these parts are collected by knacker man.
Scaremongering for headlines is pretty shabby :mad3:
 
Very interesting thread. My initial reaction was 'rubbish'. However, then I started to think more about it. How many horses does the average horse owner have in a lifetime? And how many of those horses do they have PTS at home after giving them a loving forever home? Then how many horses are failed race horses, or riding school horses? My old riding school used to ship their horses off to Potters as soon as they could no longer earn their keep. I wonder how many others do? They were very secretive about it and I had no idea until I had worked there for over a year. Even then, it was 'an accident' when I found out where they were going. Clients would have had no idea. I think the statistics quoted in the OP could be quite close to the truth.
 
I think the statistic is for all horses, meaning 99% are killed before their time is up, although I imagine the real figure is higher than that. Can anyone on here say they know a horse that died of old age ?
 
FfionWinnie said:
I can't believe that's true. Being put down when they could have hobbled around for 20 more years is probably included in their "slaughter house" statistic.

I've never seen a horse at an abattoir, and I'm there on a professional basis regularly, I don't know a single person who has used an abattoir as a means of dispatch either.
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can't send them to the slaughterhouses in Scotland, have to send them down to Cheshire. Its long been attributed to the lack of horse theft up here. Aren't many hunts either of course, most people use either vets and/or Greyshill in the central belt.
 
Interesting point you make there Speedyfluff. My first reaction was like yours and then I got to thinking about the racing industry and riding schools/trekking centres, polo schools/teams and the like. I know some will get re-habbed and go to private homes, but that won't happen for the majority of them I wouldn't have thought. I bet a fair proportion get shipped abroad for the deed to be done if there is only the one licensed abbatoir that takes horses in the UK. Now that's an even worse thought than having it done here.
 
bonny said:
I think the statistic is for all horses, meaning 99% are killed before their time is up, although I imagine the real figure is higher than that. Can anyone on here say they know a horse that died of old age ?
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Well I found my thirty something pony dead in the field it's assumed he had a heart attack does that count .
Or do they have to go go down suffering from complications of the ageing process , like being unable to feed properly or breathing issues to be classed as dying from old age and be left for nature to take it's course to count .
Who has data make a meaningful figure we don't even have an accurate figure for how many horses there are in the country .
 
The slaughter houses mentioned above are not the only ones who take horses in the UK. However .. they are the only slaughter houses that are licenced to slaughter horses for human consumption.
 
bonny said:
I think the statistic is for all horses, meaning 99% are killed before their time is up, although I imagine the real figure is higher than that. Can anyone on here say they know a horse that died of old age ?
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yes we have had 5 that lived well into their 30's and passed naturally through old age, i was actually there holding the shetland in my avatar when he passed at 34/35 very peacefully and still eating with his last breath (typical greedy shitland!), i hope the rest of mine go as peacefully when their time comes
 
Rhandir said:
The slaughter houses mentioned above are not the only ones who take horses in the UK. However .. they are the only slaughter houses that are licenced to slaughter horses for human consumption.
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Yes, but here in Scotland the horses are shot onsite [or injected], then transported in a covered truck, not for human consumption
I thought the transport of live UK animals to the continent for slaughter was banned. Presumably its not really profitable anyway if they can be slaughtered in England.

The statement is fictitous, but I am not sure what the point is, is it a good thing to keep animals beyond the point of their "useful life" if they are going to suffer or drain the owners finances so they get neglected.
 
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Wheels said:
Only 1% live out their days in a loving home

This is a claim made by a local charity that I've just seen on facebook.

Is this true? I would have thought not but then maybe I'm wrong - what do you think? & is there some agency that has come up with this statistic?
Click to expand...

Can you provide a link to their facebook account? Has anyone asked them for evidence to back their claim?
 
bonny said:
I think the statistic is for all horses, meaning 99% are killed before their time is up, although I imagine the real figure is higher than that. Can anyone on here say they know a horse that died of old age ?
Click to expand...

I had one die in my field this winter, he had cantered off happily, came back to a walk, staggered, went down and died within minutes with me at his head, he was a 28year old ex racehorse so I guess he had lived his full time, most will not die of "natural causes" fortunately we can end their lives before they struggle too much, very few go like he did on a bright sunny day looking really well just his heart giving up.
 
ChesnutsRoasting said:
Can you provide a link to their facebook account? Has anyone asked them for evidence to back their claim?
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I'd rather not as I don't want loads of people giving them grief, I just thought it would be an interesting topic for discussion. Their hearts are absolutely in the right place

Nobody so far has asked them to substantiate their claims
 
I think that it's sad that there is so much negativity towards equine charities. They are doing a really good job. What does it matter if they get some of their figures wrong? They are charities, not statisticians.
 
Speedyfluff said:
I think that it's sad that there is so much negativity towards equine charities. They are doing a really good job. What does it matter if they get some of their figures wrong? They are charities, not statisticians.
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That does give then a carte blanc to make wrong alarmist statements .
 
Speedyfluff said:
I think that it's sad that there is so much negativity towards equine charities. They are doing a really good job. What does it matter if they get some of their figures wrong? They are charities, not statisticians.
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Of course it matters! It is just scare-mongering and another way of getting money out of people. And they haven't just got it a bit wrong, its totally wrong! Of course equine charities do sterling work, no-one has ever said that, but SOME need to realise that it is better all round for some animals to be gently PTS. My neighbour's brother died recently and half his pension was going to various charities. There was a stack of begging letters from the animal charities delivered while he was in his last few days in hospital.
 
fatpiggy said:
Of course it matters! It is just scare-mongering and another way of getting money out of people. And they haven't just got it a bit wrong, its totally wrong! Of course equine charities do sterling work, no-one has ever said that, but SOME need to realise that it is better all round for some animals to be gently PTS. My neighbour's brother died recently and half his pension was going to various charities. There was a stack of begging letters from the animal charities delivered while he was in his last few days in hospital.
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I agree regarding the begging letters. I have noticed the high pressure 'sales' techniques that many charities have started to employ. It puts me off giving donations to them where I have to disclose my phone number, especially, as you always get a follow up call asking for more and they are really hard to get rid of! I think it is because they have started out-sourcing this and have no control over the techniques employed by those third party companies. Hopefully, charities will begin to realise that employing such people actually will lead to a reduction in support!

What I was referring to though in my post was the general hostile mood towards equine charities which seems to hang round this forum like a bad smell. I really cannot see why the statement in the OP could do any harm. Most people will either not believe it, or may start to think more about what happens to horses once they leave our care. I think that's very important.
 
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