Have you ever/would you ever send a horse to an abbatoir?

Personally, I'd be too upset with the 'taking there' and likely transmit it to my horse.

I have no issues with the idea as long as it is quick, efficient and guaranteed - as in not shuffled around the back to be sent off somewhere. I really don't want to think this is happening in either Turner's or Potter's. I know people who have had them collected - not sure how they could, but hey ho.

Tortured soul that I am, there is one more who will never leave here. God willing, she will lie with my first pony and my children's first pony in their field. I have begun to question the injection, although I have never known of a problem. A friend's pony broke a leg and it took the vet three shots to kill. Truly horrific for all concerned. She must have a duff vet because, now I think of it, she had another put down and he fought the injection like mad. He was rather well though. Dear God, wish I hadn't remembered that now...

fumanchu

Why did you watch the procedures following the humane killing?

ETA - they are with one of us when they go. That to me is also important. I hope I have got it right both times.
 
I would do what was easiest for my horse at the time. I think though that no comparison can be made between the industrial scale horse slaughter that takes place in North America and taking your own horse to the local abbatoir here, they are very different experiences.

My biggest fear is not being able to quickly end their suffering myself in the event of a terrible emergency. I don't know how to shoot a gun, I am not even sure how you would contact a knackerman or a Hunt person in those circumstances.

My farmer has a gun but I've never spoken with him about it, so I would be calling the vet and waiting the agonising wait as we did a couple of years back with my friend's horse who was beloved by all of us. He broke his leg in the stable, freak accident, it was a terrible, terrible wait and if there was something I could have done to ease his suffering I would have done so in an instant.
 
heidirusso said:
Plus, OK I have not been to an abbatoir but just cannot imagine when a horse gets there it thinks it is anywhere fun (so to speak) horses like any animal surely can sense that death is in the air!! Don't know but not for me.

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I don't know if it will make anyone feel any better about it but my lecturer went to Potter's regularly and whilst there he filmed the procedure for himself, from start to finish, he gave us the option of watching it. The gentleman who did the shooting (the same gentleman in the animalaid videos) brought the animals into the room himself, and he chatted away to them/stroked them the whole time to relax them, he was very quick so as not to give the horses time to get stressed and was skilled enough to lift the gun to their heads in a way that kept it mostly in their blind spot/concealed behind his arm so that they did not see it and panic. I thought his treatment was kind and that he actually had some empathy for the animals he was dealing with.
 
I took one to Potters years ago and was invited to watch if I wanted, I didn't but it was literally seconds from the time he took the lead rope from me and the bang from inside. The pony was curious but not alarmed in anyway. At the time it was the right thing to do.

Mind I felt like a traitor and it took me years to get over it. I would do it again, but not for a horse I was very fond of.
 
I have no problems with abbatoirs , but if the horse was capable of being travelled I would always opt for our hunt kennels. Ours are both seasoned hunters and would come out of the lorry smiling......
 
No I wouldnt. I have had 2 horses put down, one at home and one was in the vets hospital. My preference would be to have them put down at home as the least stressful approach
 
I have never sent a horse to an abbatoir.

Would I?
Not for my own horses that I consider my pets, they would always be done at home. However every now and again I take on a sell-on, and if the horse was fit for travel then it is something I might consider depending on the individual circumstance
 
skint1 said:
I would do what was easiest for my horse at the time. I think though that no comparison can be made between the industrial scale horse slaughter that takes place in North America and taking your own horse to the local abbatoir here, they are very different experiences.

My biggest fear is not being able to quickly end their suffering myself in the event of a terrible emergency. I don't know how to shoot a gun, I am not even sure how you would contact a knackerman or a Hunt person in those circumstances.

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Surely, as soon as you have bought a horse, pony or donkey, it behoves you to do this homework and have these things to hand in such an emergency? (I mean the phone numbers of the relevant local hunt, knackerman and crem', not the owning a gun bit, God forbid!) Fore armed is fore warned and far better to have the numbers and never need them than not have them and be panic stricken that you can't help your horse as quickly as you should.

As to OP; no on both counts. Mine are shot at home by our Huntsman or the vet in an emergency; I've had one, unsafe to ride but not ill, travel to the kennels where it grazed happily until they were ready for it a few days later. I would never use an injection.
It's not many years ago when you were allowed to go to a local abattoir and 'forage' in the yards and fields; if there was anything you fancied you could buy it. Back then, most horses were there for a reason and TBH, it weren't that many that didn't end up going back there. I know someone who sent theirs there and was horrified to find it in a local market a few weeks later! While it should be different now with the appointments system, those memories linger and I wouldn't use the place on principle but I don't condemn anyone who does use them; better that than a lingering suffering IMO.
 
No but after reading the replies, maybe thats more to make myself feel happier. I have had put down by injection - that was the only option my vet would offer. Lesson learnt, did all my homework and had decided what I wanted and when the day dawned, turned out I should have checked my vet would shoot too. My horse actually went quickly but he was pretty old when they put him down. I would always go for putting down at home and then collection for cremation. I would always worry if I sent a horse away and didn't see it through and freely admit I would not have the stomach to load my horse up and take him to a slaughterhouse.
 
We have lost five horses in the last 20 years, three were in their twenties and two in their thirties all were put to sleep by injection three were down and two were standing and all went quickly and with dignity.Maybe we have been lucky but we have had none of the problems others have had. For me it would always be the injection and at home if at all possible its the last thing we can do for them.
 
its something ive considered but I dont think i would, my boys not used to traveling enough to think that iot wouldnt cause him alot of stress.

I had one shot and taken to be cremated next time though I wont bother with the cremation part. I remember scattering her ashes and just wondering what the point was- it wasnt her anymore.. just a box of soot.. :(
 
No and no.

When I take on an animal it is cared for for life and death.

I don't consume any product of abattoirs in part because I don't like what happens there.

Vets are asked to come to where the animals are kept, even with little ones, because the only reason I have them PTS is to minimise their suffering. Most don't like travel and certainly don't like vets so that would defeat the object.

In an emergency I'd have one dispatched by any means but an abattoir would never be the quickest option so would never be used. For anything more predictable it is injection at home with as many/few calm people around as appropriate and four-legged companions allowed to see afterward.
 
Yes, I have taken horses for other people, my own went to kennels when possible.

At the time it was the best option, horse came off the trailer, walked in, bang, job done. Yes, it was Potters, yes the slaughterman was extremely professional and a horseman to boot, and yes, I would do it again.
 
MFH9 said:
Surely, as soon as you have bought a horse, pony or donkey, it behoves you to do this homework and have these things to hand in such an emergency? (I mean the phone numbers of the relevant local hunt, knackerman and crem', not the owning a gun bit, God forbid!) Fore armed is fore warned and far better to have the numbers and never need them than not have them and be panic stricken that you can't help your horse as quickly as you should.
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I really didn't mean to imply I hadn't given it any thought because I have given it plenty. Sorry about that!

I guess what I should have said is that I never realised there were more options than phoning the vet/getting the farmer in that kind of an emergency. I knew the hunt would take dead stock, and I knew you could take your horse TO the knacker man, but I did not know that these people would also come out to you in an emergency. Now I know, I will find find out if we do have a hunt and a knacker man nearby.
 
I've never heard of the saying "abbatoir" but guessing its something to do with slaughter?


I would never send my horse away to die, they will be PTS at home only, by the lethal injection, their body's then taken away to be cremated and I will have the ashes back.
 
I havent but a friend of mine drives a horsebox as her main job and regularly takes a lorry load( 10-14) of ponies to potters in taunton, they are a mix of mares, geldings and stallions who can no longer do what is wanted from them or they want new bloodlines.
I also know someone who sends their old point to pointers to potters as they get paid for them.

I personally would never send my horse there as I prefer to hold them myself and have had 1 injected and individually cremated in the past as well as 2 shot, 1 went to be hound food and 1 went to be zoo food but each to their own.

At the end of the day the horse has been destroyed in a humane and pain free way and is no different to the huntsman or vet shooting them ( being an equine vet nurse I have seen this a lot) the only difference is what happens to them after they are dead and death has no feeling or memories. After all cattle, sheep and pigs go through the slaughterhouse everyday and the farmer gets paid for them so what is the difference.
 
"Lethal injection can have some nasty side effects "

Sorry but that made me chuckle!

The injection is perfectly ok 99% of the time as is the bullet. I have seen both and have no problem at all with either.

Personally I would not take a horse to the abbatoir but I have seen the Potters video and have no issues at all with how they are treated or the process. If it is the easiest or most cost effective for someone it is way preferable to being left to rot in a field or passed through the sale ring.

For me personally I would get the vet or kennels out and have the horse dispatched at home. I have no interest in getting money for the carcass and emotionally I would find it too much to deliver the horse to the abbatoir and I would want to see that it had been carried out.
 
I have watched cows sheep and pigs be processed at the slaughter house, but I could never watch any of my horses be done that way. When their time comes it will be done by my vet who offers injection and the gun, the method of how it will be done will be upto vet and me in a joint decision as to the method used.

If the horse needs to be done very quickly due to pain I would proberly choose the gun, if its just a general old age reason I would maybe choose the lethal injection.

The horse will then be cremated and the ashes buried at home, thats my choice and respect other people ideas on the subject.
 
Yes- years and years ago it was the only option,except for the hunt, to have a horse PTS.
Both myself and my husband have had horses PTS at an abbatoir. He stayed with his, I didn't, as couldn't face it. Went to Bristol, and it was all very professional as you would expect.
Had a shetland PTS by injection, at home, and it was very peaceful, but my boys HATE needles, and so it would be too traumatic for them, and they would have to be shot, but at home. I would not travel a "pet" horse nowadays. 20/30 years ago it was much more common place to send them to the knackerman, as you got paid for it.
I think you have to do what is right for you, and your horse, at the time it happens.Obviously, not everyone has their horses as "pets" either, so they have less sentiment attached maybe than those of us who do.
The only thing I really hate is hearing the sound of the gun go off, even with the silencer you can hear it. The horse, of course, knows nothing, I am sure!
 
I would never send a horse, but I have taken one to Bristol. It was a short journey as we lived near then, booked her in, vet came to the lorry to check and off the ramp straight in to be shot. My husbund held her and was over in a matter of minutes. The horsesthat were sent had to wait until the pre booked horses had been killed. I have also had horses put down at home by a vet due to a sudden accident or illness and it was more distressing for me the horse and the vet. A slaughterman does this everyday a vet doesnt. I now live nowhere near an abbatior so when the day comes it will be the local knackerman and the deed will be done at home.
 
Have never and would never. I love my horse sooooo much and could not imagine doing that to her. Even if she wasn't aware, i would have to live with it.
 
Yes, have taken a horse to Turners. Same experience as everyone else who's replied on here. Horse knew nothing, job was done quickly, professionally and empathetically. The environment was very calm and peaceful, with a number of horses held in large open pens with deep straw beds and hay to eat. The guys I dealt with were really nice and very kind to me after the event (I got a bit emo immediately after horse had been shot but only for a minute). You can hold the horse and stay with it and there is certainly no 'smell of fear' or sense of panic in the air.
 
Yes I have and I would again. Friend has been at Potters recently as part of dissertation and has been testing the horses blink rates (which is related to stress) in the time they are waiting to be killed and in the killing box. We went to the sales last week and did the same counting blink rate test on horses in pens and also as they went through the ring and the horses at the sales are 3 x more stressed out than the horses at Potters. I don't think they really know much about it, personally, I wouldn't send any of the horses I regard as my "pets" there (they are done at home by the hunt), but would and have sent horses who have come in to be sold who have serious problems, are dangerous to ride, ect. The last one we sent had bad wobblers and wasn't safe to even tie up on the yard, so it was the best thing for him.
 
I never have and would hope never to have to, but if needs be I would. I have seen the footage referred to by a few posters here and I also have no problem with it. Even the delay for the downed horse was only a few minutes as I recall, and the horse was shot where it lay, quickly and cleanly. Many horses have a far worse end than that.

In an ideal world all horseowners would have money set aside for the end of their horse's life, but the sad fact is that not all do and the cost of PTS and carcase disposal can be very high. Slaughterhouses in the UK offer a humane alternative to those horses being abandoned or neglected.
 
For a horse i am very fond of, Im not sure i could send it to the abbatoir. However I prefer a horse to be shot rather than PTS by injection (Im an equine vet). I just find it to be a far simpler/quicker death and less likely to go wrong (in the hands of an experienced vet/knackerman) than injection (by a similarly experienced vet).

I have PTS a number of horses and have witnessed many horses shot and have also decided that if or when I have to have any of my own horses PTS then I would rather not be present for the deed. (I just feel its something I do not need to see - and Im not the emotional sort).

For the record, captive bolt will not kill a horse (unless accompanied by pithing or extravasation). I have witnessed a horse get back to its feet after a captive bolt - quite a grim (and dangerous) situation.
 
There are good vets and bad vets.
Not all have huge experience of despatching large animals. Slaughter / knacker men are trained professionals and are doing it on a daily basis.
If it came to the decision I would probably want our kennel man to do the deed than the vet but wouldn't take to abbattoir. Lucky that we could bury on own land but wouldn't rule out that decision for someone who couldn't.
There are always horror stories around if you poke around enough but there are horror stories about everything.
How many people reading this thread are actually vegetarian - think about all the farm livestock processed in this way on a daily basis.
 
ORANGEHORSE said:
I took one to Potters years ago and was invited to watch if I wanted, I didn't but it was literally seconds from the time he took the lead rope from me and the bang from inside. The pony was curious but not alarmed in anyway. At the time it was the right thing to do.

Mind I felt like a traitor and it took me years to get over it. I would do it again, but not for a horse I was very fond of.
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This would be me.
 
fumanchu said:
Because i wanted to know what had happened to him/them

Morbid curiosity and to learn what it entails, so i am clear in my mind that my actions, both past and for the future, are the correct ones.
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Oh, OK. If I could go through with step one, I'm not sure what I'd gain from watching the rest of it. Does it matter what happens after they are dead?
 
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