You've hit the nail on the head there.Does Ireland permit the live export of horses for meat? Because, if yes, the horses who go missing surely aren't much worse off than the horses who're openly exported for meat, though both sets probably suffer considerably, and the missing horses are obviously a greater risk to consumer health.
Makes you wonder what the point of mandating microchipping is, when this is the exact sort of situation microchips should be used to prevent, and yet export is apparently paper-based.
Also very upsetting to read:
Significant horse abuse exposed at key site by secret RTÉ filming
Serious animal welfare abuses and cruelty have been uncovered in the treatment of horses that are being sent for slaughter at Ireland's only licensed equine abattoir.www.rte.ie
Yes it was the same here around ten years ago, around 100 horses at a time in a field in a remote corner, and the wagons came in during the night to move them. Really awful and nobody was one bit interested in putting a stop to it - it was farmers who'd spotted a means of making a quick buck. There was a huge trade in goats at the same time.About time there are proper investigations into the murky world of mass horse export. Lets hope it might lead to some changes and more stringent laws put into place.
A few short years back (maybe 5 -8 but well before covid sent horse prices rocketing) In a 6-7 acre field not very far from me and on a very quiet hardly used back lane two summers running it was filled to the brim with horses of every colour, type, breeding, height and age, also mares and foals and donkeys. Each field full of equines would disappear literally overnight, the logistics must have been a huge operation, to be replaced by another field full a few days later. I am reliably told these were all destined for the european meat market and were begin shipped live out of Ireland. I have no reason to doubt that was the true account of what these poor animals were destined for.
It was absolutely heartbreaking to be aware of this and totally unable to do anything to put a stop to it as it was totally legal and a huge amount of money involved and not very nice people, so nobody would be interested. I was also told there were usually a good few stolen horses and donkeys amongst them. Through very careful approach and contact and someone who took pity on a friend of mine who had her donkey stolen overnight, she was allowed to go on the field and search for her little donkey mare, she found her but not the little foal she had at foot, and they let her take her away. That particular field full was gone 2 days later.
As far as I am aware it no longer happens in that particular area as I do not ride past there anymore, but I am sure it is still happening elsewhere, too much money involved not to be sadly.
me neither, so awful.
It's awful.
I’d put good money on that.
.
You'd be amazed (I am) at the number of people over here who are still selling (and buying) horses without passports, and the buyers falling for every story under the sun as to why the horse doesn't have one. Traceability is a very real problem.