Abatoirs

[GTs]

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Wow another huge difference between the UK and the USA.

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Our hospital was also a teaching hospital, therefore the surgeons were used to explaining things, monitoring your work, checking things to make sure it was right before you did anything, etc. I got to scrub into surgery before too.

 

[JM07]

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Right firstly those vides are in US slaughterhouses where sadly the welfare of animals in general is significantly lower than in this country.
Having been to a UK abattoir I will outline for you step by step what happens.

1) Horse arrives, usually put into a coral with hay and water away from the area where they are shot (which is behind closed doors so they cannot see in), some private horses are lead straight off the lorry and shot
2) Headcollar is put on horse, man speaks nicely scratches behind the ears etc
3) Horse lead into a large area behind a metal door, no blood on floor as it is jet-washed between horses, horse cannot see into the meat processing area
4) Same man who handles horse shoots between the eyes whilst holding the horse and talking to it
5) Horse hits the ground and knows nothing of it, just as a vet would do it except this person is probably more skilled at this than most vets. There is a veterinary surgeon present at all times to ensure no horse undergoes unecessary suffering
6) The horses outside just hear the shot
7) The horse is attached via its hindlegs to a hoist and moved into the meat processing area
8) The horse handlig area is cleaned down of any blood and the next one is brought in

I have been to the abattoir countless times and it is always the same, the only distressed horses I have seen are those that have cme with a companion and are seperated. In this case they are usually taken up together, one held outside while one is shot and the next done in quick succession. There would be no benefit to the slaughtermen to upset the horses as in the end it becomes dangerous for them to handle them.

This is how it is in the UK, animal rights activists cannot get gory enough footage from UK abattoirs as the standards here are so high. The US ones are not as tightly regulated as here and I agree their standard of welfare is very poor - banning horse slaughter will not help, improving welfare guidlines and abattoir standards over there will.

I hope this has helped clarify that UK abattoirs are an entirely different proposition to the ones seen in those videos

Lucy steps quietly down off soapbox...

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a very knowledgable and non-emotive soap-box L_S..

An abattoir is a necessity, as SM has said, i prefer the hunt to come out, but id have no problem with using an abattoir.

to be honest they are needed, with some of the rubbish out there at sales, at dealers yards and even in some private ads!!!, just WHAT else can be done with them??

 

[Tia]

QR -

The quote from Ghandi is talking about LIVE animals, not carcasses....sorry but there is a HUGE difference.

To me, a carcass is a carcass is a carcass. I have no interest or emotions about what happens to a shell once the animal is dead.

 

[Happy Horse]

We used to scrub in to assist surgery and were also a teaching hospital. Nurses could administer drugs under the supervision of the vets (a/b's, sedation etc) but would never be allowed to euthanize by any method. Students were not able to either - they learned this at college.

 

[GTs]

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The quote from Ghandi is talking about LIVE animals, not carcasses....sorry but there is a HUGE difference.

To me, a carcass is a carcass is a carcass. I have no interest or emotions about what happens to a shell once the animal is dead.

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I totally agree - - - but I guess you figured that out by now!

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We used to scrub in to assist surgery and were also a teaching hospital. Nurses could administer drugs under the supervision of the vets (a/b's, sedation etc) but would never be allowed to euthanize by any method. Students were not able to either - they learned this at college.

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Sounds very similar in a lot of regards then. Our interns are far more hands on with the horses - the nurses really only run blood, and act as a scrub nurse in the OR. As far as euthanizing - all of our are done by injection which might be slightly different, but if you are a student there are more precuations (gloves, glasses, facing away and keeping your mouth shut). I never saw anyone blow the sygringe off the catheter, but I am sure it could happen!

 

[druid]

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But remember...many a good horse has died out in the hunting field...in the name of what..a rabbit or a fox....

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My mare lives to hunt, she throws tantrums if the box leaves without her in season and loves being clipped as hunting is just around the corner - there is no place I can imagine her being happier than to to die in the hunt field. When the time comes she will go to the kennels and put down there

 

[Lucy_Ally]

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I know L_S! Been to Potters once years back. But just because its in the USA doesn't make it ok if you get me?

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I don't think it is ok either, it saddens me that a country with the wealth and power of the USA still does not regulate animal slaughter and transportation to a sufficient standard. Since most of the members of this forum are from the UK I felt I had to point out the reality of the abattoir for horses in this country. Unlike you or I, a lot of people have not seen the inside of an abattoir and base their ideas on videos like this. What I wanted to point out is that in this country we fight hard to ensure animals are humanely treated and watching these videos without knowing the facts leads to ill-informed opinions being banded about.

 

[Dougie]

i scub in with surgeries aswel. our nurses medicate etd under vet supervision but no one other than vets pts. and tbh i wouldnt want some cocky student putting my hors down!

 

[Lucy_Ally]

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i scub in with surgeries aswel. our nurses medicate etd under vet supervision but no one other than vets pts. and tbh i wouldnt want some cocky student putting my hors down!

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Hehe! Having just been involved in 5th year vet practical exams I wouldn't either!

 

[Dougie]

pmsl!! its hilarious what the owners say about vet students...i dont want to be a totaly spaced out muppet who doesnt know one end of the horse from the other

 

[Llwyncwn]

Dont believe I have read this thread through. Our local mart in Llanybydder, 3 out of 4 horses go for slaughter (to Turners in Cheshire).

Most owners dont have a clue. Turners have 'runners' who do their bidding. If you stay until the end of the day, you will see TBs, Cobs, kids ponies with plaits - all sorts. The meat men will outbid you if you want to rescue, in fact, the auctioneers might well be in co-hoots with them financially.

What bothers me is that if you are happy for your horse to go for meat, fine, but most people are ignorant of marts - send daughters faithful outgrown pony, etc ...

 

[GTs]

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pmsl!! its hilarious what the owners say about vet students...i dont want to be a totaly spaced out muppet who doesnt know one end of the horse from the other

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TBH my horse was such an interesting case, they requested her as a teaching case. I had no problems with it, she became the head of surgeries case, yes the procedure took slightly longer as he explained it, but him and an intern (a surgeon from South Anerica) performed it. She stayed 3 extra days in the hospital, scoped everyday (all free) - the students soon were told not to go into her stall as she was really grumpy (people remembered me by her grumpiness), and they were only able to have supervised exams. The head surgeon overseeing it all, easily outweighed any concern about the students and we want good vets in the future, so lets help them out now.