Food programme on horse meat scandal

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Rollin

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If you did not hear the Food Programme on Radio Four today it is repeated - I think tomorrow.

Disturbing interview with a representative from Ireland on a massive horse rescue. The interviewee thought he was initially dealing with neglect but soon realised that large numbers of these horses were being "coralled" ready for slaughter. It was estimated that some 70,000 horses without passports or m/chips were involved many of them being shipped to England for slaughter.

Horses could be purchased for £10 and sold for meat for £500. Very upsetting.
 
This has been a long time coming. Now is the time for everyone to get behind WHW, BHS, and campaign for the welfare of these poor horses. Not to stop the slaughter of horses for human consumption, but to ensure that they are treated as humanely as possible. Please let this disgusting treatment of these animals prior to slaughter be exposed - now is the time also to shame the food manufacturers and supermarkets into actually doing something constructive for the horses - a substantial donation to a recognised welfare charity would be a start.
 
Laracroft - I am 100% in agreement with you but I personally have signed petition after petition over many years and we still have long distance transport of horses for slaughter.

Even in the UK we cannot get it right, you may be aware of footage of horse slaughter in one of the two abbatoirs in England. How can we tell Eastern Europe how to treat horses when we cannot get it right on our own doorstep.

The other issue is of course horses without ID being send for slaughter. In France I am now asked for my horse's SIRE number (French Equine Database) before I can obtain a blood test or swab result.

To get a SIRE number horses must be chipped and have passports. It all costs - so not worth breeding a horse to sell for £10!!! The people who are flouting the law should get huge fines or be sent to prison.

Owen Patterson was on the News tonight saying there is no threat to human health!! What rubbish. The reason we have passports is to protect the human food chain from drugs administered to horses because, WE DON'T KNOW if they are harmful. If there is no traceability we have no way of knowing what we are eating.

In France, butchers are not allowed to sell pre-minced beef. They have to mince to order for each individual customer.
 
Yes, I agree that we have all been campaigning for years with endless petitions to little or no end. BUT this is the time to really bring it all in to the wider public domain. WHW must now confront the supermarkets, retailers and governments head on and expose them as perpetuating this misery. All we are asking for is the same welfare standards as for any other food animal. This whole business is being run by crooks of the first order - only now that it has been exposed on a global scale will any good for the horses come out of it.
 
What we are forgetting is Romania at present is only an associate member of the E.U so all the rules and regs all E,U transporters and slaughter houses have to be follow need not to be followed. Next year, when they enter the E.U all bets will move to Turkey who become associate members. Just think, when a horse leaves Ireland with a passport number (never checked) it has free movement through U.K to France. Once in France next physical border is Bulgaria _ Turkey!
 
I have long said and continue to say that...until we have horsemeat on the shelves in this country...very little is likely to be done by those in power in this country to ensure better welfare.

Every other animal destined for the table in this country is reared and kept to certain standards set down. This is because we, the public have become so aware of the bad standards and demanded better.
Awareness is needed, but put horsemeat on the menu in this country and it would force the hands and changes would be made immediately.
 
Original post re radio programme on Irish horses, not Romanian - I listened to it also....am just saying that the organisations best placed to lobby for improved welfare need extra support at the moment to take advantage of the publicity.
 
_GG_ said:
I have long said and continue to say that...until we have horsemeat on the shelves in this country...very little is likely to be done by those in power in this country to ensure better welfare.

Every other animal destined for the table in this country is reared and kept to certain standards set down. This is because we, the public have become so aware of the bad standards and demanded better.
Awareness is needed, but put horsemeat on the menu in this country and it would force the hands and changes would be made immediately.
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Great idea Not!!! the first thing would be bute would be baned and there would be more breeding of horses for meat if we truly interested in the welfare of horses we should campaign for a ban on human consumption of horse so the meat is only used for pet and zoo feed, lower the value = less chance of problems for horse welfare ..
 
mutley75 said:
What we are forgetting is Romania at present is only an associate member of the E.U so all the rules and regs all E,U transporters and slaughter houses have to be follow need not to be followed. Next year, when they enter the E.U all bets will move to Turkey who become associate members. Just think, when a horse leaves Ireland with a passport number (never checked) it has free movement through U.K to France. Once in France next physical border is Bulgaria _ Turkey!
Click to expand...
Yes its great to be a member of the EU!!! free movement of goods, services,and people , so our shops can buy crap from anywhere with no border checks ...
 
More on Farming Today, this morning. Spokesman from USPCA who had been following the fate of 70,000 Irish horses, which disappeared, for two years.

They discovered criminals could buy m/chips on the internet and forge passports using a £3.99 printing kit. No-one would listen till this story broke.

They also had undercover people at auctions and witnessed cruel treatment of horses and horses unfit to travel shipped abroad.
 
Thanks for that Rollin, just listening to programme now, no surprises - I have one of these Irish horses myself, complete with fake microchip. I always suspected that she arrived over here in too poor a condition for the abattoir and was sold on to a 'pop-up dealer'. Rubbish passport with illegible vet stamp from dealer.......
I suppose the fate of these 70,000 horses bred with government subsidies was just not important enough - but I am still adamant that the welfare side must be brought to the fore at this time, or it will be an opportunity lost forever. Very distressing to think of the abuse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qhqfq about 4 minutes in the inspector's story starts - definitely worth a listen for 5 mins.
 
laracroft said:
Thanks for that Rollin, just listening to programme now, no surprises - I have one of these Irish horses myself, complete with fake microchip. I always suspected that she arrived over here in too poor a condition for the abattoir and was sold on to a 'pop-up dealer'. Rubbish passport with illegible vet stamp from dealer.......
I suppose the fate of these 70,000 horses bred with government subsidies was just not important enough - but I am still adamant that the welfare side must be brought to the fore at this time, or it will be an opportunity lost forever. Very distressing to think of the abuse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qhqfq about 4 minutes in the inspector's story starts - definitely worth a listen for 5 mins.
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Hopefully the irish bussiness was a one off , personaly I would like to see it made a lot harder to keep colts intire and breeding experiments with dubious quality or unsound mares discoraged ..
 
laracroft said:
Thanks for that Rollin, just listening to programme now, no surprises - I have one of these Irish horses myself, complete with fake microchip. I always suspected that she arrived over here in too poor a condition for the abattoir and was sold on to a 'pop-up dealer'. Rubbish passport with illegible vet stamp from dealer.......
I suppose the fate of these 70,000 horses bred with government subsidies was just not important enough - but I am still adamant that the welfare side must be brought to the fore at this time, or it will be an opportunity lost forever. Very distressing to think of the abuse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qhqfq about 4 minutes in the inspector's story starts - definitely worth a listen for 5 mins.
Click to expand...

Please remember that while all this goes on, our rare breeds are on the brink. Britain uniquely does nothing to support horse breeding.

Last year only 20 pure bred Cleveland Bays were registered. Part bred CBs competed at the Mexico, Tokyo and London Olympics. If you breed thousands of horses, it is easier to reach the Olympic games ...when you breed less than 100 each year that is some achievement!!

My point??? People like me, who breed for no profit are doing our bit to preserve critically endangered breeds - the Suffolk Punch, The Cleveland bay and the Hackney. We too suffer from the hands of both irresponsible and factory breeding i.e. if you breed enough something might come good.

Like your meat - now buy British.
 
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