Princess Anne talks at world horse welfare

She has a point. You only have to think of all the supermarkets which maintain high welfare standards. Meanwhile 45 horses near me got put down yesterday because they were suffering due to their poor condition. If they were to be sold for meat they'd be fed, happy and plump when they went to the slaughterhouse, instead of being shot where they stood for their own skinny sakes. Poor things :(
 
Unless you're vegetarian you probably already have. As horsemeat entering the food chain in this country will mean regulation and legislation for the purposes of traceability the lot of the horses that currently go for meat and are shipped abroad in horrendous conditions will improve.

As we've raised our own meat for years I've definitely thought about buyinga few of the poor little scraps of foals that are sold for pence, bringing them home and giving them a couple of years of decent life before slaughtering for meat for my table. Save the poor little blighters an awful trip lasting several days by sea and road.
 
It's a shame that her point has been so misreported by the press and used for sensational headlines. Her point is very sensible about the ridiculous situation we are in where ponies are sold for pennies and people don't value them, resulting in so much cruelty.
WHW have issued a very diplomatic statement in the circumstances. I think they've handled the situation very well.
I wish everyone would watch the full conference, its really really interesting and a lot of key points are made. I'd recommend it.
 
Generally speaking when the horse meat scandal hit the headlines most people weren't really that surprised nor were they particularly worried. I don't disagree with her and for welfare sake think it could be a viable solution.
 
cheeryplatypus said:
It's a shame that her point has been so misreported by the press and used for sensational headlines. Her point is very sensible about the ridiculous situation we are in where ponies are sold for pennies and people don't value them, resulting in so much cruelty.
WHW have issued a very diplomatic statement in the circumstances. I think they've handled the situation very well.
I wish everyone would watch the full conference, its really really interesting and a lot of key points are made. I'd recommend it.
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I only heard a few seconds of her speech on BBC Breakfast and found nothing to object to.
As said above the standards of welfare for some ponies would increase, which could only be agood thing. The problem is that there are far too many sentimental people in this country who do not think things through properly
 
I'll re-post what I put on facebook, even though it's not 100% relevant. People on here are much more rational than on facebook so we may not get the whole 'disgusting, will we start eating dogs and cats next, horses are pets!111!!'

I don't understand why people have a problem with horses going for meat and not cattle? You say they helped us through the war, but oxen pulled the heavy artillery, and ploughed the field, drew our loads and served us long before the horse did. In an ideal world I wouldn't see either bred to be eaten but it does seem like a strange hypocrisy.

Also there is no need to breed horses for meat because there are far too many horses as it is, so the slaughterhouses are always full. Blame the people breeding foals, not the ones dealing with the consequences.
 
It is very emotive, but I think her point that it should be discussed is relevant in the circumstances. People are starving in parts of the world and we over breed and as a result some animals suffer. I just wish we could see an end to live transport overseas large distances.

In parts of the world people do eat dogs and cats, so it is all about perception.
 
I very much agree with her. Perhaps if we did start eating horse meat it would stop the transportation of so many poor ponies going abroad! It is a very emotive subject but I don't see the difference between eating a cow, lamb or a horse!
 
Pigeon said:
so the slaughterhouses are always full.
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^ This ^

Someone I know was going to send 2 to Potters before the worst of the winter came in, when she called 2 weeks ago on 1st November - the earliest date she could take them was the 10th December!
That is far too long, so she got the hunt out instead.
What would have been probably £300 each (less travel) turned into costing £400 the pair..................
 
I've always said I don't eat cows because I don't like them - our pigs are positively lovely alive and as suasages.

If horses had a minimum value they wouldn't be left for dead or teathered by a cliff and left to fall off - it wouldn't mean we all had to eat our pets - just that those bread with no purpose would have a value that made them worth more than rubbish.
 
jemima*askin said:
Unless you're vegetarian you probably already have. As horsemeat entering the food chain in this country will mean regulation and legislation for the purposes of traceability the lot of the horses that currently go for meat and are shipped abroad in horrendous conditions will improve.

As we've raised our own meat for years I've definitely thought about buyinga few of the poor little scraps of foals that are sold for pence, bringing them home and giving them a couple of years of decent life before slaughtering for meat for my table. Save the poor little blighters an awful trip lasting several days by sea and road.
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Eminently sensible . . . you, HRH and the others on here who agree.

I guess the only thing that makes me go "hmmmmm" is how to regulate the drugs administered to domestic horses that shouldn't be in the food chain for human consumption. Passports are pretty much rubbish . . .

P
 
PolarSkye said:
I guess the only thing that makes me go "hmmmmm" is how to regulate the drugs administered to domestic horses that shouldn't be in the food chain for human consumption. Passports are pretty much rubbish . . .

P
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It is possible, relatively easily, to do the necessary testing to work out when bute (or other equivalent drugs) leave the system so they can then be licenced for use in animals going to slaughter with an appropriate withdrawal period.
Nobody has done the necessary testing for what is the withdrawal period for bute in horses in the UK as, to date, it hasn't been commercial to do so as so few horses go for human consumption from this country.

Then you medicate in the same way that you do for pork, beef etc.
 
I agree with Princess Anne's comments and do not object to eating horsemeat. My only worry bead is; would my horse suddenly become more of a target for theft by people who'd view him as easy money, and more than likely be clueless about horses. Good motivation to not let him get fat I suppose ;)
 
Totally agree with her 100%. Whilst i wouldnt eat (just my choice though prob have ) i have nothing against horse meat just as long as slaughtered in country orgin and under humane conditions. going back many years i protest march to"transport on the hook not the hoof "
 
If horses are regularly slaughtered for meat for human consumption, then it is probable that a side effect would be the improvement of the passport system. It would give a useful outlet to the hundreds of horses going through the sales for pocket money amounts, to then suffer goodness only knows what neglect. 40 years ago we paid 150 pounds for a first horse, ride and drive, safe as houses, I saw his equivalent going through a local sale during the last month for 100 pounds, this is the result of the over production of equines in ths country. Producing for meat, with the re-introduction of local slaughter houses, would be part of the solution to the current crisis.
 
I don't agree with it. If you start allowing horse to be eaten in the UK then yes you might clear the current over-breeding problem but you'll then get more people breeding for meat (and no, not all of them will be nice and happy and plump...). Having been to quite a few pig farms near me, the current "high welfare standards" are pretty damn depressing - these animals have no life at all. So people are deluding themselves if they think horses will have a much better life if they are destined to end up in the food chain.
 
My opinion is that this is rubbish. If market forces were the reason for over breeding then there wouldn't be any over-breeding. In this were the model if there is no demand then there would be no supply - fact is there are many other reasons for over breeding mainly cultural. Why create a new market? Would this market take old Snowy the no longer wanted elderly RS pony? NO. Would it take the ex-racehorse pumped full of bute etc. during its career? - NO. Would it take a tiny, scrawny, worm ridden New Forester? NO. The answer is not to breed more but to stop breeding rather than creating a false market.
 
Personally I do agree in a way and think its a good idea that she said it so it can be up for a debate but I do think that it will throw up new problems as some others have mentioned
 
I think HRH is 100% right to raise this issue in such a high profile way. We have a huge problem at the moment, it does need to be opened up for debate and needs to be dealt with.

However, I'm not sure I agree with her approach completely. I understand where she is coming from, I applaud her for having the guts to say what she has said. I just feel that the problem is that we have TOO MANY HORSES and not enough homes. I don't think the solution is to breed more horses for meat. We would be kidding ourselves to think that the people who are overbreeding and neglecting their horses, would suddenly start caring for them properly so they could sell them for meat. I believe most of the meat men would take the animals in whatever condition they found them. I don't think it would solve the crisis, we need LESS horses, not more.

Also, there would also always be a load of well meaning, but not necessarily well informed, fluffy bunnies wanting to "save" horses from slaughter.

I believe that the way to deal with this crisis is with education first and foremost. People should understand that if they buy from the irresponsible "breeders" then they are not saving horses, but merely encouraging the "breeder" to continue their behaviour. Also, people who mistreat/neglect/starve their animals should have them confiscated, without the opportunity to make ANY profit. Horses who are in a really poor condition should be euthanised. The ones that aren't going to cost thousands to rehabilitate should be given a certain amount of time to find a new home. If they don't, they are then euthanased. I know this sounds harsh, but if you allow the irresponsible to continue to make money from the way they currently operate, they will continue to neglect and overbreed - they won't care whether they're selling them to homes or to slaughter.
 
To some extent HRH raises a valid point, would accepting horse meat as a viable source of uk food raise help to deal with overbreeding and improve their quality of life? Maybe.

Unfortunately my personal opinion is that it would not make an iota of difference. This is off several reasons. One, it would take many many years for horse meat to become a large enough market to encourage 'horse meat farms' survive financially. It is not in the culture of the uk.

The biggest reason is that it does not deal with the main reason for the horse meat scandal in the first place. Horse meat was used in low value beef products for the very fact it was CHEAP. Using pure beef trim etc in a product has become not financially viable due to the large brand supermarkets selling at stupidly low prices. Horses bought from the uk and Europe would be purposefully low value, poor condition animals to slaughter and then get mixed in the product. Thin, lean horses also have a higher protein level and therefore raise the protein in the end product.
Unless the criminal aspect of the uk food industry can be sorted this will continue to happen.
P.s after personally seeing fat horses 'bred for meat' travelled for hours and hours in Europe and coming off exhausted, dehydrated, stressed, injured and sick I would not say that animal is for for consumption. The transport regulations are simply not good enough yet in Europe. For that reason I will never ever buy horse meat even in countries where it is expensive and acceptable.
 
i wouldnt eat dogs or cats as i deem them as pets


horses are (to me) a working animal with a purpose....that purpose can be shifted from working animal to eating animal.

I have no issues as long as its regulated, legal and done ethically.....

ive eaten horse meat in france - i just have an issue with how they are transported and then finally slaughtered. horrific

but if we legalise over here - theres then no reason to export (or smaller reason to export live)
 
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