Taunton abbatoir - not for the light hearted. Video footage

VictoriaEDT

VictoriaEDT

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 June 2005
Messages
3,310
Location
Somerset
www.equinedental.co.uk
I have heard about this on the grapevine:

1) Pregnant mare goes into abbatoir to be shot; film shows her being shot and when the mare is winched away to be butchered there is a second shot. Live foal is shot during butchery.

2)very ill chestnut mare is bought in to be shot, she is lying on the yard in agony. The abbatoir leaves her as they are not ready to butcher her. They are not allowed to use her for meat unless she is shot and butchered right away so they wait and leave her in agony until the butchery is ready for her.



http://tauntonanimalrights.wordpress.com/2007/09/

Look on this site as there is much more to it but I WARN YOU IT IS NOT FOR THE LIGHT HEARTED. The only way to get something done about this is to make people aware, so sorry if it upsets you.
 
tbh, I didn't hear the second shot as a shot, more as a bang, impossible to tell tbh I think on that score.
Re: the injured mare, I'm not sure what to think
 
No your right there is no proof that there is a foal that is shot and I should have put that but it is quite clear that the mare was in very in late stages of pregnancy and I know from work experience at an abbatoir that they are hung and butchered straight away = finding a live foal inside.
 
Unfortunately if you sell your horse at an auction - as some of those may have been - you cannot guarantee where it will end up. The men that were shown - other than the one with the gun - all seemed that if you met them at a sale they would not ring alarm bells.
I have not fully made up my mine about horse slaughter, but if there are 5000 animals each year, presuming they are healthy what are we to do with these animals? If an owner cannot look after it and it wont sell, and the charities are all full where does it go then? Unfortunately charities can only do so much, and people circumstances can change VERY quickly and they have to assess their options.

I know it is distressing footage, but those horses seemed healthy - which is surely good if they are going for meat - calm and well handled.

But like I said, I haven't fully made up my mind so those are just my observations so far.
 
Its not really the abbatoirs fault that a pregnant mare was sent to them.
Also with the chestnut, not their fault it was sent to them like that. 7 mniutes isn't that long, especially if its been suffering like that for a while.
These video's get produced and the blame gets put on the abbatoir when really it should be on the people who transported that chestnut there in that state.
This video was posted in soap box a couple of weeks back and most people agreed how relaxed and calm the horses looked.
To me none of the horses looked stressed (they wouldn't be eating hay if they were stressed), they don't know whats going on and everything is carried out in a calm and professional manner. The horses are killed quickly.
When i watched the video i was worried what i was going to see, but after watching it i was quite pleased to see the horses were dealt with appropriately in a calm manner with no stress for the horses.
Remember this is animal aid who thinks everything is cruel!
 
yes i agree that the horses looked calm and handled well but i cannot understand people that let their horses go there if there is nothing wrong with them, i personally couldnt do it, mayb im too soft but to me butchering a healthy horse is no better than butchering a dog, however i can understand sick, old, injured or dangerous horses going. but y pregnant mares that i do not understand.
 
at least these horses were slaughtered in this country and not shipped abroad for hours in a lorry to Italy or whatever
 
I have no problems with horses being slaughtered at the abbatoir provided the proper procedures are followed. When I took two horses to ****** it was a vastly different expeience to using the abbatoir in Cheshire.
I don't think horses nearing their end should be allowed to view what's about to happen to them. (you wait in your box above the killing pen)
I don't think they should take two horses in at a time then kill them one after the other (I protested and they split them up)
I don't think their idle useless vet should stand by watching all this without saying a word.. (At this point I lost my temper and told him so..)
I think being slaughtered here is infinitley preferable to travelling abroad, but anyone who professes to care for their animals should give them a dignified end, and that means at home..
I speak as someone who has done it both ways..
Which would you prefer, someone to give you a peaceful injection or quick bullet in your own bedroom or go somewhere where death is evident, with scarey men with blue pipes to hit you and see the person in front killed first?
There's no choice really is there..
 
Far luckier than the American ones shipped to Mexico.

At risk of being unpopular it actually seemed quite well run and the horses seemed calmer and in better than expected condition (- I wonder why half of them went for meat - health/age/behaviour problems I would suspect for the little ponies rather than just children getting bored with them. Otherwise they'd have a higher resale value). As to the men chatting etc it's probably not actually a fun job to do and don't you ever talk to colleagues at work?

Assuming they didn't realise the mare was pregnant, then if they did shoot the foal then this may have been kinder than letting the foetus die some other way especialy if it was well developed.

In the case of the sick animal - who transported it and will anybody admit to being it's ex-owner and letting it die in this way, rather than being put down at home? Money obviously. They carry far more blame than the slaughterhouse in my view. The owner may well have left it to die in prolonged agony anyway rather than pay a vet/make other arrangements.

Podge will definitely be put down at home, and after seeing this video hopefully by injection if I get the choice. Fraid no individual cremation though - once you're dead you're dead, it's the treatment along the way that matters.

I never thought I'd defend a slaughter house in a million years. But so long as people won't pay for what I consider proper disposal there will always be a need.

No hate mail please - I don't read it anyway.
 
Echo Reynold, at least they were slaughtered here and not subjected to hours and hours of transporting first. They all looked calm enough and didn't know what was coming. As for the injured horse, I had a horse who was suffering terrible twisted gut colic a few years ago - the vets left him in agony for 5 hours before they decided to pts - surgery was not possible. IMO this is far crueler (I would insist pts now)

I think this video is pretty good compared to the one from the mexican slaughter house. I think it's a shame that good horses have to go for slaughter, but if no-one wants them, what option is there?
 
I'll jump on the controversial bandwagon as well

I think that for many people they cannot cope with the final decision of putting any animal down - let alone having it done at home

so they abrogate their duty to their animal by sending it to an auction, knowing that they'll likely end up going for meat.

so ultimate anger goes to the original owners.

However - as the farmers will say - if you have livestock you will have deadstock. Similarly if you buy/own a pet - be it a goldfish or a horse or whatever inbetween - you have a duty to care for it and then give it a dignified end in minimal pain

I do wonder if some dogs and cats that are left roaming the streets are there because they had incurred vets fees that the owners were unwilling to pay any longer...

I'd rather have horsemeat eaten than import junkmeat from abroad
many horses in poor condition posted on here would tbh be better off dead
 
I think the video shows a number of good points - the calm relaxed horses eating hay beforehand, the calm professional handling (and I believe this was a 'covert' video so that must be the norm) and the accurate dispatch of horses.
But I also think there are a number of related issues - who would send such a heavily pregnant mare to slaughter (and if the abbatoir did shoot a live foetus - it's good to finish it cleanly given the circumstances), and who would send the chestnut in such a state.
In defense of the 7 minutes it took to check the chestnut's ID and fetch the means to dispatch her, if my horse broke a leg, it would take my vets at least 20 mins, more like 40 mins to get to her to have her PTS.
Horse slaughter isn't a nice thing for us horselovers to see, but the alternative would be shipping meat horses to France...or lots of unwanted, neglected horses kept alive...
Not an easy answer, is there?
S
 
this is SO last week.....


same sh1t, different day.....

that abbatoir is giving a good service to those who require it.

and the guy in the video is a horse owner himself...

point 1...this happens everyday if you'd care to look at cattle being slaughtered...and it wasn't proved she was pregnant

point 2...it may very well be the case that they "weren't ready" for her...as they normally only slaughter horses on a thursday..which need to of been previously booked in so they know whats what.

the line was obviously shut down, so proper procedures had to be adhered to...ie getting everything in order to dispatch her..with the licensed personnel to do the job.

ive also noticed there isn't ONE comment here about the owners of both these horses who would have taken them there..........
 
ignore last sentence...S above has
tongue.gif
 
I've taken my horse to these people, although they were based in Bristol at the time. They were very professional and the horse didn't have a clue what was going on.
 
I can see nothing wrong with that slaughter house. they all look relaxed, are handled nicely. Does anyone watching know why each animal has been sent there? maybe they have a terminal illness, maybe they are dangerous. Was that mare pregnant or something else. Seven minutes, that's not long.
It's all emotional blackmail.
 
the slaughter house itself is very good but the fact that some owners could send perfectly good animals to slaughter i cant understand, i would rather pay out the money to have mine pts at home than have the money for their meat. but i can understand that some people cannot do it. def for not shipping out live horses as that is so much worse, and i know many people that have taken their horses up there but these were either very old and ill or very dangerous to both themselves and others around them.
 
Anyone who cannot face up to the fact that horses die, should not be an owner. It makes me absolutely furious that people try to undermine companies such as this, who provide an efficient and painless end to a horse's life. These are the woolly minded do-gooders who would rather wave a horse off on a lorry to the continent than the certain future of a dignified exit. The same people who probably think racing is a grest sport, yet have no idea of the amouht of wastage produced every year which is eaten in France. Horses die, and if they are lucky, they die at the hands of an expert.
 
God it's quick! Actually, watching it made me feel sick
shocked.gif
Hate the fact that death comes to us all in the end, I guess.

It's the breeders of racehorses that pi55 me off, far too many are bred and surplus to requirement, then not many get passed on to do something else, hence excessive overstock and final destination.

Very sad but necessary.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Anyone who cannot face up to the fact that horses die, should not be an owner. It makes me absolutely furious that people try to undermine companies such as this, who provide an efficient and painless end to a horse's life. These are the woolly minded do-gooders who would rather wave a horse off on a lorry to the continent than the certain future of a dignified exit. The same people who probably think racing is a grest sport, yet have no idea of the amouht of wastage produced every year which is eaten in France. Horses die, and if they are lucky, they die at the hands of an expert.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree very much with this.

IMO a lot of people aren't used to dealing with death, especially death at their hand (for example, phoning the vet to kill a horse). It makes them uncomfortable.
 
OK, I've watched it
Going from this footage IMO it is 100% better for the horse to be destroyed at this abbattoir with english speaking people than to suffer live transportation to foreign countries .

The man delivered a swift death and I approve of the clearing up of bodily fluids before the next horse was admitted.

I'm slightly confused when some people rant on about Animal Aid,
Why? Because Animal Aid appear to be putting the 'burden of guilt' onto the OWNER not the abbattoir.
This I agree with.
I too would put the guilt onto the owners/breeders shoulders
frown.gif


ETS:this was a quick reply
 
Makes you realise why we should not breed for sentiment doesnt it????? Mares not good enough to ride but ok to breed from???

A necessary service, repeat whats been said above about calm and efficient though, but not easy watching.

when they are wriggling around after being shot, are they dead and its the nerves reacting or are they alive still???

Think I have just gone off the bullet when the time comes for my boy
frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Makes you realise why we should not breed for sentiment doesnt it????? Mares not good enough to ride but ok to breed from???

A necessary service, repeat whats been said above about calm and efficient though, but not easy watching.

when they are wriggling around after being shot, are they dead and its the nerves reacting or are they alive still???

Think I have just gone off the bullet when the time comes for my boy
frown.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

They don't know anything at that point. It's just the brain/spine reacting. They can gasp and blink too, but they're already gone.
 
Had a companion horse PTS by bullet at our yard a month ago, Vet was fantastic, quiet and kind. My friend had been holding the mare, feeding her carrots, and the Vet said to just step behind him, and then it was over. The mare was 28, and looking old, not keeping her weight, still enjoying the sunshine but declining rapidly. It was calm and dignified, she died in the field she had lived in for over a year, with people she knew, and with no premonition or fear. I had no problem with her lying on the ground afterwards. What I couldn't watch was her being winched into the truck to be taken away for incineration.
 
In my time I've probably taken 20 horses to the abattoir, when I was starting out I couldn't afford to turn away the 33p a lb they paid you, so it was something that had to be done.
The cheshire operation is very different to the one we're discussing. You arrived at a given time, walked in past horses calmly eating hay in pens to a full metal door and entered a wet room. You put the horse in stocks in the centre, gave the man the bucket of feed and as it put it's head in it was shot with a bolt. If they weren't instantly dead they did a very good imitation. he gave you back the headcollar and you left. When you were out of the area the whole floor opened up and was washed down after each horse.
I only ever knew one horse who sussed what was about to happen and he was very worried, after that I managed to afford to have them done at home.
When we moved here the horse I took had been diagnosed as a wobbler, we had bought it as a two year old and it seemed fine until broken. As a result it cost me money to keep it for two years so the thought of getting some back was the reason I chose the meatman. A friend had an old mare so I offered to take it with him.
I suppose I expected the same respect and service I'd had in the past at the other place, but this really didn't happen.
I arrived dead on time but was kept waiting in a line behind two full boxes of young racehorses, this was how the animals in my box managed to see the killing pen.
I warned the chap unloading that he needed to keep the mare in sight of the gelding as he was young and might panic a bit, and handed her to him. he marched off out of sight round a corner and the gelding went ape.. He snapped the lead rope, dived under the partition at the front, I grabbed the pin out so it could open and he fell out and rolled down the ramp. At this point another bloke waded in at the horse on the floor with a bit of blue pipe...
The useless supervising vet stood and watched silently.
I yelled to stop hitting him, he would get up if they just gave him a minute to get balanced due to his back problems, but they hit him until I shouted at the vet.
Then they led both in together until I protested and dragged one back out.
I waited until both were done, drove away and parked down the road where I sobbed my heart out.
Not because they were dead, but because I had let them down by taking them to such unfeeling bastards..
So for everyone who's had a good experience with these people, sorry, mine wasn't. I'm no bunny hugger as the above tells you, but I do feel we should show responsibility and respect at the end of an animal's life.
I failed to give those two horses that and I will be forever ashamed.
Since then we've probably had another 15 done by injection or by the hunt.
Believe me there is no comparison, the only problem being it costs you money you don't earn it as you do when you take a horse to the abbatoir.
But in comparison it isn't a lot, £100 for the vet, a similar amount for the cremation. (you can't bury them according to the defra rules )
Don't we owe it to them to die in a familiar place?
Unless it was an emergency, mine now gently slip away in familiar surroundings with people they know and trust.
I know so many horses aren't that lucky and so yes, abbatoirs must exist. But they should be run by people who also show respect to the animals they kill.
If they were all like the one I used to use it would be ok, but as I know to my cost, they aren't.....
 
In the video, the horses are dead as soon as shot...the leg twitching and wriggling is just the nerve impulses firing off...but the horse is no longer aware...as it has no brain activity...
When you put them down by injection, it can have the same effects...and sometimes worse, as for some reason some horses can react strangely to the drugs.
And injection takes longer so has the potential to cause more suffering...if there are problems.
There are no easy solutions, as owners you just have to do what you think is best. And it's the folk who breed all these excess horses from unrideable/lame/unsuitable mares you want to have a go at, not the slaughterhouse
S
smile.gif
 
HH I'm sorry if I am some kind of evil person for taking my horse to an abbatoir - actually I'm not. You had a bad experience I had a good one, both with the same company. When I took mine, like your Cheshire one you had an allocatted time. I would take one there again. When I thought Dolly was going to be PTS I walked around with their phone number in my purse for a week, I even phoned them up to make an appointment but like usual there was a long waiting list.

We had a horse shot on our farm and it was horrible, a far worse experience than Mr Potters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top