Every year, 80,000 terrified horses are packed into trucks and driven thousands of miles across Europe to slaughter. World Horse Welfare (WHW) continues its fight change the laws and regulations governing this transportation.
The charity has just handed its latest Dossier of Evidence to the European Commission to press for change to the laws governing the transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe.
Transported horses often cover thousands of miles and several countries and WHW has documented compelling scientific evidence of the suffering inflicted.
Campaigns Advisor Jo White and Chief Executive Roly Owers travelled to Brussels yesterday this week where the Dossier of Evidence was received by Harry Vassallo, Commissioner Dalli’s representative.
WHW carries out regular field investigations into the trade and has considerable evidence demonstrating that current journey times and transportation practices lead to unnecessary suffering and pose an EU-wide disease threat.
The charity has been campaigning tirelessly for changes in the law so that a maximum journey limit of 9-12 hours is adopted.
Evidence revealed in the Dossier shows these horses routinely suffer from exhaustion, dehydration, injury, stress and disease. Evidence includes:
- Horses currently have limited, if any, access to water prior to, during, or after these journeys. Under these conditions horses become severely dehydrated within 10 hours.
- Recent World Horse Welfare investigations found that 93% of horses observed after 24 hours of transport showed clinical signs of disease, with animals affected on every shipment. These horses place the health of all horses at threat as they are transported across Europe. The introduction of a maximum journey limit would not only help to prevent development of disease, it would minimise the transport-associated spread of both exotic and endemic diseases.
- In the charity’s field investigations in 2010 and 2011, 85% of horses intended for slaughter we examined had at least one acute injury.
- World Horse Welfare consistently records horses that are unfit for transportation, and the charity believes that horses intended for slaughter are ill-equipped to cope with long journeys.
- Behavioural data from one randomly selected shipment observed in 2010 showed that 94% of horses had an abnormal stance and 83% were weight-shifting, both of which are indicative of pain or discomfort.
- Synchronising a maximum journey limit with driver working and rest times would benefit transporters, and would assist enforcement agencies by allowing simultaneous and cost-effective enforcement checks - improving equine welfare and enabling more effective enforcement at a lower financial cost.
The European Commission is scheduled to publish their report on the current Regulation governing the long-distance transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe, which was originally due at the end of September.
The charity hopes that the evidence from its investigations, of which this Dossier is the latest part, will influence the Commission to recommend changes to the current Regulation, helping to end what it believes is the single biggest abuse of horses in Europe.
For more information about the campaign please visit:
http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/help-tomorrow/transport_action
or email campaigns@worldhorsewelfare.org