British horse abuse

This 19 January 2013 video from England says about itself:

Footage shows stunned horse waking up just before it is about to have its throat cut

Two slaughtermen have been sacked after an undercover investigation exposed shocking cruelty to horses at an abattoir. The disturbing video shows them being beaten with metal poles and illegally stunned in groups of up to three at a time before being killed.

In one horrifying moment a stunned horse appears to regain consciousness, only to find itself hanging upside down and about to have its throat cut. They also saw horses which appeared to be sick or injured and hadn’t been immediately put down.

Founder Wendy Valentine, 63, told MailOnline: ‘We rescue around 700 horses a year and we were concerned about where we were saving them from.’ ‘It’s unbelievably depressing there. They shouldn’t be stunned or shot in front of each other like that. ‘It’s total disrespect for animal welfare.’

The scandal emerged as several British supermarkets have been exposed as selling frozen beef burgers which contain horse meat. The alert was first raised by Irish food watchdogs after horse DNA was found in burgers sold through Tesco, Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Dunnes in Ireland. It subsequently emerged that burgers from the same batches were sold in the British outlets of both Tesco and Iceland. Incredibly, the beef content in one Everyday Value burger sold by Tesco was actually 29 per cent horse meat. The horses at the Red Lion Abattoir are believed to be butchered for European food markets.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Undercover film reveals abuse at horse abattoir

Sunday 20 January 2013

Two slaughtermen have had their licences withdrawn after being identified in shocking undercover footage showing appalling animal welfare conditions at a horse abattoir.

Horses at the Red Lion Abattoir near Nantwich, Cheshire, were shown being beaten with an iron rod and sticks to encourage them into pens.

The film recorded during an eight-week investigation by the Hillside Animal Sanctuary group also showed horses crammed into slaughter pens in pairs before being illegally stunned together.

Under the Welfare of Animals Regulations 1995, horses should not be slaughtered in sight of one another because of the distress it causes.

Both the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and RSPCA charity are investigating.

The FSA withdrew the licences of the two men after viewing the footage, which means they cannot continue to slaughter animals, and is considering prosecuting.

See also here.

Related articles

• Horse abbatoir investigated after secret filming reveals shocking abuse (guardian.co.uk)
• VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES,VIDEO:Exposed: How terrified horses were beaten and abused by sick slaughtermen (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)
• Exposed: How terrified horses were beaten and abused by sick slaughtermen (mirror.co.uk)
• ‘Shocking Neglect’ Of Horses Revealed At Abattoir Amid Row Over Horse Meat … – Huffington Post UK (huffingtonpost.co.uk)