Petition to ban horse slaughter in the UK.

No, I don't agree that racing is any more culpable than any other sector of the horse world for sending horses to slaughter.

You are concentrating on the facts that racing documents EVERY horse bred.

I expect you would be more horrified about the statistics of all other leisure horse animals if they actually had records.

Let me turn it back on you - where do you think the other 17,000 plus equines slaughtered in the UK come from?
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Until EEC regulations enforced a change there were many small slaughterhouses all over the country which slaughtered all kinds of farm animals and horses from the local area, they would also come out to 'fallen stock' and emergencies.
Then the EEC brought out so many regulations that there wasn't enough profit to be made by small slaughterhouses. And I don't mean that slaughtermen couldn't make millions but that they couldn't make a reasonable living (just like many RS owners can't, because of all the regulations).
So most of the slaughterhouses closed down, which meant that ALL stock, not just horses, had to travel further from the farm, or wherever.
Those who are suggesting that there should be more slaughterhouses are not wanting to slaughter more animals but would rather that no animal had to travel more than a minimum mileage to be slaughtered.
We are very fortunate in my area as although the local slaughterhouse closed, it is now run as an 'Equine Crematorium'. The owner or one of her staff will come out to shoot the horse at home, or the horse-owner can arrange for it to be taken there at a specified time. She will also collect a horse which the vet has euthanased. A very valuable service as few people can bury their horses at home.
Why should people be forced to have a horse euthanased (& I agree with brighteyes, it is still slaughter) by injection? I certainly don't want that for my horses.
There is far too much sentiment from people with very little experience and even less sense, IMO.
Click to expand...

There used to be a slaughter house about ten miles from us, but they had to close because of all the eu cr^p, and i think they were onley killing for pet food.


Friesian..... the hunt is NOT free where i live, i can't remember how much they charge though.
 
Fii said:
Friesian..... the hunt is NOT free where i live, i can't remember how much they charge though.
Click to expand...

I was always under the impression the huntsman would shoot horse at home then take the carcus away free of charge????? Surely if its not free its not too expensive?

I am very privaledged to have my horses on my mothers croft, my old boy was PTS end of last year, cheaper option would have been to put him to the landfill but we buried him at home which im so glad we could afford to do.
I totally understand others are not so lucky but was always told if said horse was taken by the huntsman it was free of charge. Id much rather dispose of my horse this way than send it to a slaughterhouse.
 
I am also sure it is not legal to bury a horse/cow/sheep/pig here either, may very well be different in Scottland though.
 
friesian80 said:
I was always under the impression the huntsman would shoot horse at home then take the carcus away free of charge????? Surely if its not free its not too expensive?

I am very privaledged to have my horses on my mothers croft, my old boy was PTS end of last year, cheaper option would have been to put him to the landfill but we buried him at home which im so glad we could afford to do.
I totally understand others are not so lucky but was always told if said horse was taken by the huntsman it was free of charge. Id much rather dispose of my horse this way than send it to a slaughterhouse.
Click to expand...

When we found my horse dead in the field 2 years ago we contacted the local hunt to come & take him away, they wanted £250 to do this.
 
friesian80 said:
I was always under the impression the huntsman would shoot horse at home then take the carcus away free of charge????? Surely if its not free its not too expensive?

I am very privaledged to have my horses on my mothers croft, my old boy was PTS end of last year, cheaper option would have been to put him to the landfill but we buried him at home which im so glad we could afford to do.
I totally understand others are not so lucky but was always told if said horse was taken by the huntsman it was free of charge. Id much rather dispose of my horse this way than send it to a slaughterhouse.
Click to expand...

Was your horse euthanased? Then correct me if I'm wrong but you cannot bury them after the injection for obvious reasons.


Fii said:
I am also sure it is not legal to bury a horse/cow/sheep/pig here either, may very well be different in Scottland though.
Click to expand...

I THINK it is legal up here if you can prove they were not for commercial purposes and that they were a "family pet". Again though, as far as I'm led to believe they cannot be buried if euthanased by lethal injection as it is then a threat to wildlife that could potentially dig it up and eat it.

But don't quote me on that...

ETA I'm talking about horses Fii, sorry, not cows, sheep or pigs.
 
Last edited:
Hmm why has this thread become about how my horse was PTS????? :rolleyes:

Navaho - Am genuinely shocked at the price! :eek:

Are hunstmen as readily available as they used to be before the fox hunting ban was brought in?
 
friesian80 said:
Hmm why has this thread become about how my horse was PTS????? :rolleyes:

Navaho - Am genuinely shocked at the price! :eek:

Are hunstmen as readily available as they used to be before the fox hunting ban was brought in?
Click to expand...

I am sure the hunt used to come out for free or a nominal fee, before the ban.
But i also think, it is one of those things that you really can't expect to be done for nothing any more.
 
thatsmygirl said:
There's not a lot more to say it's all been said.

But you stupid facebook people need to grow up, face facts about slaughter, it will happen, always will and is the best ending for some horses to save suffering long term.
Potters are busy and when I rung them they had a long waiting list so we need more slaughter houses to deal with it.
Grow up and face facts.
You stupid stupid lot
Click to expand...

us HHOers are on facebook fighting FOR slaughterhouses.
 
I believe it is a truth that everyone on this forum wants the best for horses in the UK, not only their own horses, but horses which don't have a 'family' home, like racehorses and others.

When the time comes, for whatever reason, for your own horse to be PTS, ideally it is done at home, in familiar surroundings with people the horse knows and trusts who will be with them at the end.

Unfortunately, for some horses this is not how they will face the end. The current discussion about slaughterhouses, is really the next best option for the horse. For the horses that come from racing or off the moors, a ride to the slaughterhouse and death, with no-one who cares about them as an individual, is stressful and not ideal, but probably the next best option for these horses.

What cannot be right, moral or acceptable is live export to a foreign country in the back of a lorry for a several thousand mile journey to a possible inhumane (I don't know how they kill horses) death.

Legislation in the UK sets great store by the humane standards in our slaughterhouses for all animals and this cannot be denied to UK horses. Whether or not there is any 'profit' in horse slaughter is, in my opinion, a side issue in this debate, and if I could not put my horse to sleep at home, then I would probably pay a slaughterhouse to do it.

Where people cannot afford to do the right thing by their horse, through financial hardship, then the costs could be met by horse charities or the RSPCA, which would be a practical useful thing for them to assist with.

True, that over breeding is probably the cause of a lot of horses having to be slaughtered, but these horses should be treated as humanely as every other and should never be allowed to leave these shores for their final journey.
 
mymare said:
Was your horse euthanased? Then correct me if I'm wrong but you cannot bury them after the injection for obvious reasons.




I THINK it is legal up here if you can prove they were not for commercial purposes and that they were a "family pet". Again though, as far as I'm led to believe they cannot be buried if euthanased by lethal injection as it is then a threat to wildlife that could potentially dig it up and eat it.

But don't quote me on that...

ETA I'm talking about horses Fii, sorry, not cows, sheep or pigs.
Click to expand...


Mymare, i am also in Scotland...it is legal to bury your horse regardless of bullet or injection so long as you can prove to DEFRA he/she was a pet, they send you guidelines of where you can bury and the depth of hole dug, and how far away from watercourses you must be.
I have 2 ponies buried in my field, one by bullet and one by injection and had no problem so long as i followed their email.
That was how we did it anyway, we had the vet confirm how long he had been treating them, and how long they had been retired etc.
 
AndySpooner said:
I believe it is a truth that everyone on this forum wants the best for horses in the UK, not only their own horses, but horses which don't have a 'family' home, like racehorses and others.

When the time comes, for whatever reason, for your own horse to be PTS, ideally it is done at home, in familiar surroundings with people the horse knows and trusts who will be with them at the end.

Unfortunately, for some horses this is not how they will face the end. The current discussion about slaughterhouses, is really the next best option for the horse. For the horses that come from racing or off the moors, a ride to the slaughterhouse and death, with no-one who cares about them as an individual, is stressful and not ideal, but probably the next best option for these horses.

What cannot be right, moral or acceptable is live export to a foreign country in the back of a lorry for a several thousand mile journey to a possible inhumane (I don't know how they kill horses) death.

Legislation in the UK sets great store by the humane standards in our slaughterhouses for all animals and this cannot be denied to UK horses. Whether or not there is any 'profit' in horse slaughter is, in my opinion, a side issue in this debate, and if I could not put my horse to sleep at home, then I would probably pay a slaughterhouse to do it.

Where people cannot afford to do the right thing by their horse, through financial hardship, then the costs could be met by horse charities or the RSPCA, which would be a practical useful thing for them to assist with.

True, that over breeding is probably the cause of a lot of horses having to be slaughtered, but these horses should be treated as humanely as every other and should never be allowed to leave these shores for their final journey.
Click to expand...


I think this has been the most sensible and thoughtful post on the whole thread, I live in hope that the FB pagers will digest it properly and realise how wrong they are. Well done AS.
 
[ ]QUOTEBut you stupid facebook people need to grow up, face facts about slaughter, it will happen, always will and is the best ending for some horses to save suffering long term.[/QUOTE]

I think the people commenting in this thread are different individuals than your referenced FB discussion. :)

I realise that this is a complex issue, but I think it's important to sort out the fact from the sentiments. If the case for the necessity of UK slaughter is truly so self-evident, then surely we can discuss it like adults and not react with insults and outrage at anyone who presumes to ask critical questions.

Surely, like any other industry, the equine slaughter industry should be able to stand up to critical enquiry.

If overbreeding is one of the causes for the "necessity" of slaughter, should not overbreeding be addressed?

Why did the EU close the local British equine slaughterhouses? Was it for animal welfare reasons? When equine slaughter was legal in the US, the captive bolt method was used which was inhumane and designed for cattle not horses. It was not a clean quick death for the horse.

The meat prices are not that high, from what people have said on this thread. So for an individual horse owner to load their horse into a horsebox, or borrow one if they don't own one, and pay all the petrol to drive all the way to Nantwich or Taunton just to sell the animal to the meatman for a pittance hardly seems to be much more cost effective than paying to euthanise.

It would make more economic sense if one had a number of horses to sell to slaughter, in the case of breeders, the racehorse industry, kill buyers, and dealers. Not so much individual owners unless they lived next door to the abbatoir.

Why do people claim that slaughter is "more humane" than euthanisation by humane injection?

How profitable will it be to open further equine slaughter houses? Where will this glut of horsemeat go? Will this not drive prices further down, making it uneconomical? Do you expect the government to help subsidise this?
 
Last edited:
Changes said:
:rolleyes:

There are no sites saying it is legal to ship them abroad. There would only be laws saying it was ILLEGAL to ship them abroad, but as it isn't, there aren't.

If you want to find out, I sugest you ask WHW, RSPCA, DEFRA......... they are all fully aware of horses going abroad for slaughter.
Click to expand...

What I want to know is, how is it cost effective to transport a horse abroad for slaughter?

When we have a slaughterhouse at either end of the country (-ish) why would anyone pay a ferry fee and all that diesel to take a horse out of the UK to slaughter, when those who do so must only be doing it for business?
 
AndySpooner said:
I believe it is a truth that everyone on this forum wants the best for horses in the UK, not only their own horses, but horses which don't have a 'family' home, like racehorses and others.

When the time comes, for whatever reason, for your own horse to be PTS, ideally it is done at home, in familiar surroundings with people the horse knows and trusts who will be with them at the end.

Unfortunately, for some horses this is not how they will face the end. The current discussion about slaughterhouses, is really the next best option for the horse. For the horses that come from racing or off the moors, a ride to the slaughterhouse and death, with no-one who cares about them as an individual, is stressful and not ideal, but probably the next best option for these horses.

What cannot be right, moral or acceptable is live export to a foreign country in the back of a lorry for a several thousand mile journey to a possible inhumane (I don't know how they kill horses) death.

Legislation in the UK sets great store by the humane standards in our slaughterhouses for all animals and this cannot be denied to UK horses. Whether or not there is any 'profit' in horse slaughter is, in my opinion, a side issue in this debate, and if I could not put my horse to sleep at home, then I would probably pay a slaughterhouse to do it.

Where people cannot afford to do the right thing by their horse, through financial hardship, then the costs could be met by horse charities or the RSPCA, which would be a practical useful thing for them to assist with.

True, that over breeding is probably the cause of a lot of horses having to be slaughtered, but these horses should be treated as humanely as every other and should never be allowed to leave these shores for their final journey.
Click to expand...

AndySpooner, I honour you for being so civil and intelligent in your remarks. I agree with much of what you've said.

But don't you agree that slaughter is a profit based *industry*--not a horse disposal service--and it has to make economic sense for the people working in that industry? Demand for actual horse meat rules the market, the pricing, and the profits, not the supply or overabundance of unwanted horses.

Should not the problem of overbreeding be addressed in some way?
 
brigantia said:
AndySpooner, I honour you for being so civil and intelligent in your remarks. I agree with much of what you've said.

But don't you agree that slaughter is a profit based *industry*--not a horse disposal service--and it has to make economic sense for the people working in that industry? Demand for actual horse meat rules the market, the pricing, and the profits, not the supply or overabundance of unwanted horses.

Should not the problem of overbreeding be addressed in some way?
Click to expand...

Well, if there is no profit at all to pay wages and other overheads then it couldn't carry on. Everyone needs to balance the benefits of UK slaughter against the horrors of live exports.

I personally do not have an issue with the consumption of horse meat in the human food chain. If a profit is made from exporting horse meat rather than live horses I would accept that, though I would not like to see horses specifically bred for meat.

No system is perfect though banning UK slaughter has to be the most ill thought through concept which will have devastating consiqences for the horses least able to avoid the live export trade.
 
Maesfen said:
I think this has been the most sensible and thoughtful post on the whole thread, I live in hope that the FB pagers will digest it properly and realise how wrong they are. Well done AS.
Click to expand...

Aagin, the FB people on HHO are putting these points across to the FB people that are for the petition.

It would seem that "Thatsmygirl" was confused as to who were for what on FB.

Unless of course the "FB pagers" are in fact wrong for agreeing with you :confused:
 
I think Brigantia has said the most educated, balanced post on here so far - address the breeding industry - particularly the TB racing industry.
 
Holly Hocks said:
I think Brigantia has said the most educated, balanced post on here so far - address the breeding industry - particularly the TB racing industry.
Click to expand...

I think that for most horses there is not a breeding industry as such and lots of foal are the result of quite a casual approach by horse owners who put mares in foal which in honestly, shouldn't be.

The horse racing industry is a much different scenario, where large numbers of youngsters are put through the system with a high volume of good horses culled only because they are not fast enough. How a limit could be put on the numbers born or the numbers culled I don't know, but, I envisage massive resistance from the racing industry should any attempt be made to influence their breeding and selection processes.

The saddest sector which overproduction occurs in my opinion is the moorland ponies. A thousand unwanted Dartmoor ponies have been culled in the past year. In any year only 20% of foals are ever sold as riding ponies, the rest probably end up being slaughtered in Italy.

So yes, the overproduction of horses is the problem, but to solve this will be impossible unless the owners of racehorses come on board. Though, as these predominantly very wealthy will be asked to sort out the fall out of their hobby which causes so much misery for their rejects little or nothing will be done.

The result is the clearing up by slaughterhouses if the horses are lucky, or live export by low class dealers.
 
Last edited:
If the meat value of a TB = £450, then any breeder of a registered TB that's slaughtered is taking a loss. They aren't bred for meat.

Would be nice to see the industry contribute to rehab/retraining for them though.
 
Racing depends on breeding a large number of youngsters in order to find the fastest and the rest are surplus to requirements.

While some people may find that distasteful you need to remember that the jobs of thousands and thousands of people depend on it - breeders, trainers, jockeys, stable lads, racecourse management and maintenance, reporters, bookies and all the people who are paid from the enormous amount of tax that is paid by the betting industry.

And ask yourself this question - you are an embryo TB destined for flat racing. You will be born and pampered until you are three years old, at which point it will be obvious that you will never run fast enough, and you will be quickly and painlessly killed.

Offered the choice, as a horse, - would you choose to have those three years, or never live at all?
 
I don't think the value of culled racehorses is the issue. Owning racehorses is a fairly loss making pastime I imagine, but it would be creditable if these people put some money into rehabilitation. The real problem is too many unwanted horses .
 
QUOTE "Why did the EU close the local British equine slaughterhouses? Was it for animal welfare reasons? When equine slaughter was legal in the US, the captive bolt method was used which was inhumane and designed for cattle not horses. It was not a clean quick death for the horse."END QUOTE

The EU did not close equine slaughterhouses. They imposed such stringent health (NOT welfare, human health) regulations on them because the rest of Europe routinely eat horses that they could not operate economically. Small sheep/cow/pig slaughterhouses have also been shut, resulting in long journeys for those animals too.

I have held three horses killed by captive bolt and it was instant and extremely humane. I would allow any of mine to be done with captive bolt again.
 
cptrayes said:
QUOTE "Why did the EU close the local British equine slaughterhouses? Was it for animal welfare reasons? When equine slaughter was legal in the US, the captive bolt method was used which was inhumane and designed for cattle not horses. It was not a clean quick death for the horse."END QUOTE

The EU did not close equine slaughterhouses. They imposed such stringent health (NOT welfare, human health) regulations on them because the rest of Europe routinely eat horses that they could not operate economically. Small sheep/cow/pig slaughterhouses have also been shut, resulting in long journeys for those animals too.

I have held three horses killed by captive bolt and it was instant and extremely humane. I would allow any of mine to be done with captive bolt again.
Click to expand...

agreed
 
I wouldn't send one of mine to a slaughter house, but that is 1) my personal prefereence 2) they are all far to far away from me to be a practical choice. I can understand that for some people it could become a financial necessity when pts is needed. I went to a talk a while back where a Vet for one of the equine charities said he advises people when they buy a horse to put aside the amount it would cost to pts & dispose of the body. Because you never you know just when you will need it & it will be stressful enough without having to find the money. I had never thought about that before, but it struck me as one of the most sensible peices of advise I had ever heard.
 
AndySpooner said:
I don't think the value of culled racehorses is the issue. Owning racehorses is a fairly loss making pastime I imagine, but it would be creditable if these people put some money into rehabilitation. The real problem is too many unwanted horses .
Click to expand...

I totally agree on the racing industry providing rehabilitation of those not good enough for racing, maybe then they would look at numbers bred if they had to shell out to make the animals into "everyday" horses.

Any money got back from a racehorse that has been sent to slaughter is money they otherwise would not have had and obviously the horse is not costing anymore. A badun costs as much to keep as a goodun and all that!
 
But they need the numbers that they breed to fill the number of slots for racing for people to bet on. That's how the whole industry works. They aren't surplus to requirements when they are born.

Unless they are deformed, damaged or ill, they aren't killed until after they have proved that they aren't fast enough to win. Until then, they race, and when they are killed their places are taken by the next batch of two year olds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top