One of our sister organizations, Animal Aid in the UK, has, in concert with the BBC, released the results of an undercover investigation into the barbaric horse-slaughter industry. Some of the more salient points from this BBC article (trailer here):
Thousands of racehorses are being sent to slaughterhouses in Britain and Ireland. Some of the slaughtered…were once owned and trained by some of the biggest names in racing.
The regulations say horses should not be killed in sight of each other. [But] the footage recorded horses being shot together 26 times over the four days of filming. Prof Daniel Mills, a veterinary behavioural specialist from the University of Lincoln, who has seen the footage, said: “A gunshot going off is going to be startling, seeing another horse suddenly drop, these are all going to be very distressing for a horse in this situation.”
The regulations also say every effort should be made to ensure a rapid death. But the footage showed that sometimes the death was far from instant. On 91 occasions the cameras recorded a slaughterman shooting horses, not close up, but from a distance. Reviewing the footage of one such killing, Prof Mills said: “It doesn’t look like the horse is even stunned. You can see it’s turning its head.”
Make no mistake, all the abuses, all the terror, all the horror, all the suffering that has been documented by Animal Aid exists in the Canadian and Mexican abattoirs to which we send our, American, horses – multiple thousands of racehorses among them.
Slaughter will always be ugly and traumatic! Mass killings of multiple animals in a day will always be ugly and traumatic! I don’t think there is any slaughterhouse in the world that doesn’t kill one animal/horse without having the next animal/horse waiting in line to be killed next. There is nothing pretty about the assembly-line type of mass slaughter.
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
Many years ago as a teenager my religious junior high school had all of our class travel to a slaughter plant & observe the operation. At the time we became a non-meat eater after seeing the cruelty & suffering done to the animals. This was in 1972 & at that time it was very difficult to be vegetarian let alone vegan as we are now. Will never forget the sounds of the knowing animals who knew what was to happen to them.As a concern of ours. Does anyone know what`s happened to Gina? So many of her postings we can relate to as to threats upon her person as that has happened to us as well. We now eat the same foods as our horses, grains, plant based foods only. Very difficult to avoid the dairy products which are almost always stuck in the ingredients list at or near the bottom of an items list. It can be done. It requires vigilance constantly. My Adventist school was way ahead of their time for plant based non-meat based diets as a way to avoid health issues involving cancer & cardio problems as well as anti-smoking & non-alcohol usage.
Awesome! I’m so happy you stuck with it. What is done to the innocent on a daily basis is completely wrong.
Thank You Patrick for your incredible Hard Work on behalf of the Horses.
God Bless you Eternally !
Call Your Representative!
Anti-slaughter Provision Included in Infrastructure Bill
Good News! Reps. Carter, Fitzpatrick, Cohen and Titus have filed an amendment to the surface transportation INVEST in America Act that will halt the transport of horses intended for slaughter. This amendment will stop the movement of horses for slaughter on the nation’s highways, thus halting horse slaughter in the US while also preventing our horses from being shipped to Canada and Mexico. Return to Freedom worked closely with the amendment sponsors and Committee to ensure the legislation is successful and halts horse slaughter.
Ending slaughter is not the only RTF equine priority included in the INVEST Act. The Committee has already acted in favor of language offered by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) that will ban the use of double-deck livestock trailers when hauling horses. This horrible practice was halted by the USDA when hauling horses to slaughter, but it is still legal for all other horses. We commend the Committee for recognizing this loophole and accepting language to ensure no horses end up on double-deck trailers. Unfortunately, an amendment has been offered by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) to strip the language from the bill.
The full House of Representatives is expected to act on the INVEST Act by next week, and we want to let everyone in Congress know that passage is especially important.
TAKE ACTION: CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY AT (202) 224-3121. URGE THEM TO VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 187 (slaughter), NO ON AMENDMENT 184 (double-decker trailers), AND TO SUPPORT TO THE INVEST ACT (H.R. 3684).
Thanks Kathleen for posting the #`s.
If this documentary is the one someone sent to me, it is making a lot of positive comments about the Irish horses sent to England. The horse name Vyta du roc who won numerous monies on the barbaric STEEPLECHASE was one of those sent to the abatoir. Also mentioned was Gordon Elliot (remember that sweetheart on the cellphone??
If more people world over see the consequences of this industry it will certainly bring those on board who didn’t know what transpires after the track.
I sent a letter to my senator today and have already received a reply from him that he supports the INVEST act and other provisions for safe horse transport. Will see what the others say.