Rte investigates..making a killing

luckyoldme

luckyoldme

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 October 2010
Messages
7,383
Visit site
Has anyone else seen this?
Its so sad, and it explains where all those horses found at the ports were going and the steps involved.
It's not for the faint hearted but I think we should all know where a lot of our horses end up ...mainly in Spanish slaughter houses with German passports so that they can go into the food chain.
They've aldso investigated the veal calves from Ireland, they are shipped to Belgium so that they can be sold on to Egypt and other places where their short agonising lives are ended with halal killing.
Every single industry in this country has a bunch of crooks making money from pure lack of morals and a total disregard of law.
 
I think I watched it or something similar a while back. It made me cry. 😔

I can 100% my boy will not be ending up this way. I’d never let any of my oldies leave alive to be pts. I have seen it happen first hand at a riding school though and it was devastating after all those horses had done for the rs.
 
Last edited:
spotty_pony2 said:
I think I watched it or something similar a while back. It made me cry. 😔

I can 100% my boy will not be ending up this way. I’d never let any of my oldies leave alive to be pts. I have seen it happen first hand at a riding school though and it was devastating after all those horses had done for the rs.
Click to expand...
I was a complete idiot when I bought my horse. I went to the dodgiest dealer going..it was that bad that if I'd Googled his name I wouldn't have gone anywhere near.
I had a really tough time with him but I ended up keeping him and eventually had him PTS aged 30. I've tortured myself with that decision for years.
I watched that programme and I realised what I had unknowingly saved my beautiful horse from.
I know everyone is different bug I just don't get how those people sleep at night knowing the suffering they are responsible for.
 
For all the problems I've had with my little Welshie mare I would never ever sell her, and I'm thankful every day that we naively bought her with all her undisclosed problems. Had someone else bought her she could easily have been worked into the ground until she broke completely and ended up like one of these poor souls. It's just heartbreaking.
 
And this is why when i was having my young, very broken, very dangerous horse pts, i declined the offer of a dealer to take him to the hunt on my behalf. I had visions of him being drugged up to the eyeballs to make him sound and compliant and ending up who knows where. I took him to the hunt and watched him walk to the dispatch area.
 
I was told about horses being exported to Europe for slaughter when I had to sell my TB as I was going to university. Luckily he found a great home. The sad thing is this was over 40 years ago so nothings changed
 
Last edited:
tristars said:
Is that the one about shannonside foods with the tb s, i can feel my blood pressure rising
Click to expand...
It is! They did the Live calf export and Greyhound racing scandal.
Our country(Ireland) is hell on earth for all animals.
I naively sold a horse to Fergus Burke(the lad selling horses to the continent with falsified passports) but thankfully a new owner in sweden contacted me about him.
Shannonside is open again I heard.
 
Reacher said:
I don’t think I can watch the program, it’s the stuff of nightmares. I just wish something could come of the investigation to stop these live exports
Click to expand...
Me too.

& I agree nothing has changed in decades. When I was tiny the local yard bought a job lot off the meat man to see if there was anything useful. He literally drove up in his big lorry, opened the back into a field and out came 20+ ponies. Mainly Welsh types and pretty feral.

I'd feel better if they were despatched here.
 
myheartinahoofbeat said:
I was told about horses being exported to Europe for slaughter when I had to sell my TB as I was going to university. Luckily he found a great home. The sad thing is this was over 40 years ago so nothings changed
Click to expand...
It has changed, it's got worse.
Every time someone passes a law that no one ever enforces there are scum who know exactly what the laws are, where they can navigate round the law , and also that even if they did get caught they could easily pay the fines and still make a profit.
The difference now is that they employ people under the title of welfare officer to smack them round the heads while they are in stalls and pr people to present a glossy front and lie convincingly.
There are other scum who have absolutely no trouble sleeping despite the suffering they cause just so that they can have material things and be 'succsesfull'.
 
CastlelackSportHorses said:
It is! They did the Live calf export and Greyhound racing scandal.
Our country(Ireland) is hell on earth for all animals.
I naively sold a horse to Fergus Burke(the lad selling horses to the continent with falsified passports) but thankfully a new owner in sweden contacted me about him.
Shannonside is open again I heard.
Click to expand...


Maybe they have stopped taking horses?

Can't get some if those images out of my head, but made myself watch

The injured ones In the field
 
CastlelackSportHorses said:
It was shocking, but nothing new unfortunately.
There is that and worse happening to animals around the country as we type. :(
Click to expand...
It's every industry,
tristars said:
I do have an Irish horse rescued over there, nine years ago now, a lovely lad
And have seen at first hand much cruelty

I often wonder if those in politics ever look at rte investigates or are they just hard bastxrds who
Don't care
Click to expand...
They make boxes to be ticked.
They create laws that rely on people being honest.....which are never policed and without meaningful detterants.
 
sky1000 said:
Does anyone know what we can do to try to stop this?
Click to expand...
I wish I knew

Keeping it out there not letting it get buried, forgotten, keep dreaming one day about a world that cares about animals

Alternatively shaming those who have the power to take action and fail to do so

those exposing though reports like rte deserve huge credit
 
sky1000 said:
Does anyone know what we can do to try to stop this?
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same.
The problem is the same in every industry.
We have laws that are rarely enforced.
We have human turds who knows this, and can include measly fines in business costs.
The only way this stops is when it's not profitable.
Just as an example .. if you can fraud your local authority out of hundreds of thousands then get fined £20,000 and do a quick 6 months inside, it's not a bad return.
I personally wouldn't want to do time but for some people just see it as a necessary evil.
 
Rather than individually writing to people the most effective way of helping to stop this is to support World Horse Welfare. It was their campaigning that was pivotal (along with others) in stopping live exports - but it took 40 years to achieve.

They are now campaigning on horse smuggling for slaughter. Information here.

www.worldhorsewelfare.org

Horse smuggling - World Horse Welfare

Transported to and from the UK in horrendous conditions, deprived of food and water, kept in cramped and filthy, unsafe conditions – the frightened horses caught up in this trade are not only exhausted but experience rough handling and mistreatment, as well as being at high risk of disease. Some...
www.worldhorsewelfare.org www.worldhorsewelfare.org
 
To be fair WHW on paper have stopped live exports but in reality it's now worse. The English horses for slaughter are now transported to Ireland via Northern Ireland. Paperwork is then redone as they are now leaving an EU country. They are then shipped back out through Northern Ireland, back into England and then on to Europe. Therefore actually increasing their journey time in horrific conditions.
 
CastlelackSportHorses said:
It is! They did the Live calf export and Greyhound racing scandal.
Our country(Ireland) is hell on earth for all animals.
I naively sold a horse to Fergus Burke(the lad selling horses to the continent with falsified passports) but thankfully a new owner in sweden contacted me about him.
Shannonside is open again I heard.
Click to expand...
Shannon side is not open…but there is talk of opening a new abattoir, which will be strictly supervised…make of that what you will…of course if officials at ports, particularly in Northern Ireland would do their jobs properly, then possibly we would not see the scenes at British ports we have been….
 
Marshpiper said:
Shannon side is not open…but there is talk of opening a new abattoir, which will be strictly supervised…make of that what you will…of course if officials at ports, particularly in Northern Ireland would do their jobs properly, then possibly we would not see the scenes at British ports we have been….
Click to expand...
There is not much Northern Ireland officials can do when the passport matches the chip. They scan every horse that goes through. Horses may have 2 or 3 chips but as long as one matches the passport presented then the horse has to be let through
 
The problem with no slaughter house now is that the horses are leaving the country to God knows where

I hope the new abbatoir opens soon (obviously under seriously strict conditions focusing on welfare)

65 horses a week were going through that abbatoir and talk to any knackerman they are not getting 65 horses a week. So where are they all going?
 
On the continent many horses are kept in herds like cattle & are also treated like cattle when they are butchered for their meat at slaughter houses. At my vets there are always vets from Europe working because in the UK we keep our horses in a different way to many abroad. Many of us have insurance on our horses or we will find the money to pay for treatment. These vets get to carry out procedures that would not be contemplated abroad. One of my horses is now 27 years old. He show jumped & did dressage through most of his life. He was extremely good at everything he did. About 18 months ago he was very ill, we took him into the arena and walked him around. Several times he went down to the ground but he always tried very hard to get up. A few years ago my wife & I discussed what we would do in a case of of colic with either of our boys & we decided at their age we would not put them through it. We called the vets & they attended & did various tests/scans etc & told us that it was colic but he did not need any bowel removed. She said all his insides had moved around & it all needed putting back in place. He's managed to stand up again for when the vet arrived. My wife & I and our daughters instantly decided he would have the treatment. We loaded him in out lorry & took him o the vets. We had to leave him with them and go home. About 10.30pm the vets phoned and I was trembling when I answered. They told me the operation was over, it had taken around 4 hours and we could come & see him at lunchtime next day. The night went on for ever, he was part of the family & we all loved him. He's been with us for 22 years & I don't mind telling you that at 70 years of age I shed many tears that night. The next day we went to the vets & we new which stable he would be in. We walked very quietly across the yard & peeked into his stable. There he was, all bandaged up standing in the middle of his stable, When he saw us he came over, eyes sparkling to get fuss. He looked so good an we were happy. He stayed there for a few days and we then brought him home. We followed the vets advice to the letter and after several months he was over it & he was turned out. He is now totally over it, he schools, hacks out, jumps & does dressage, just as he always has but we have lowered the jumps somewhat. When the vets come to the yard to see someone even if they have never seen our boy they always want to see him. He is a celebratory and the vets sometimes give our phone number out to someone who has a horse with a similar issue & we don't mind. The bad part about is was at his age we don't have insurance, we decided a few years ago to cancel it because very little was actually covered. Before the operation started we gave the vet a £1500 deposit & when we collected him we paid another £6,000 so it all cost £7,500. A tremendous amount of money but I have never paid a bill of so much & been contented to pay it. Today you'd never know he'd had the operation, he is back to as he always been.

When he is retired he will not move yards into a farm where horses are abandoned in fields to die. He will remain where he is now on his yard where he has a routine, has friends & the only way he will leave the yard is when he dies. OMG how much this horse is loved.
 
Sagamoon said:
There is not much Northern Ireland officials can do when the passport matches the chip. They scan every horse that goes through. Horses may have 2 or 3 chips but as long as one matches the passport presented then the horse has to be let through
Click to expand...
Unfortunately do not think that is happening ?
Unless things have changed…
 
Marshpiper said:
Unfortunately do not think that is happening ?
Unless things have changed…
Click to expand...
Of course they aren't bringing checked, everything these days is about cutting back in manpower on the ground and creating new rules and being stupid/naive enough to believe people will follow them.
Here's an example not horse related.
After an accident where a driver fell off a trailer while strapping down a load rules and regulations were quickly brought in to make sure gantries were provided with harnesses to prevent falls from heights. This would ensure the drivers safety.
What actually happened was after that most companies insisted that drivers drive the truck off their premises to secure the load.
The driver was still in danger but not on the companies premises so the thinking was the company wouldn't be liable.
On the day and in the moment there is no one there to help.
That's the kind of thinking involved. When they shut the slaughter houses down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top