IT’S a sad but inescapable fact that where there’s livestock there’s deadstock. Sometimes death comes naturally but sometimes a decision has to be made, for a variety of reasons, to end the life of an animal. In these instances, the path to death, and death itself, should be as free from stress and pain as it is possible to make it, be it for a farm animal, a horse, or a pet dog or cat.

In the past few years, we have seen documentaries exposing cruelty and suffering inflicted on greyhounds, calves and horses. The two documentaries featuring horses showed abhorrent practices, first in a UK slaughterhouse and now in Ireland’s only equine slaughterhouse. The path to death was anything but free of stress and pain. Both programmes showed failings of the regulations, failings of the passport and identification systems, and how traceability failures not only allow horses to ‘disappear’ from a country but also impact on food safety.

Now is the time for the equine industry and wider equine community to have a conversation about what is an ‘acceptable’ end of life scenario for horses, and whether the slaughter house is still an appropriate option for animals that have served us for sports, leisure and pleasure purposes.

Self-centred

Let us first put aside all the arguments regarding welfare, costs, emotions and the ‘need for a safety net’ and instead take a self-centred look at the need to protect the future of our relationship with, and use of, horses. The need to retain our social licence is something that all equestrian sports now have a great awareness of. As has been said before, this is not about trying to change the minds of those with extremist views, it is about retaining the tolerance of general society towards the particular activity you want to undertake.

The horse world has to ask itself whether wider society will continue to think it is acceptable to see the horses we have used for sport and pleasure end their lives in a slaughterhouse for financial gain? Because that is the only reason for choosing the slaughterhouse option. Having a horse euthanised at home, either by lethal injection or humane killer, and then taken away as deadstock to the knackery or rendering plant, will cost money. But it is the more acceptable and more humane option.

Horses from Ireland and Britain that are sent to Irish, English or European slaughterhouses have not been raised for meat production in the same way that farm livestock have been. The concept of traceability with regard to food safety appears to be considered vital for all farm livestock and yet when it comes to horses, time and time again, traceability and welfare failings have compromised food safety. Even if you wish to eat horse meat, why would you want to risk eating an animal that has zero traceability, may have been transported and slaughtered in horrendous conditions and may not even be fit to eat?

We live in an age where people are choosing food with traceability and welfare stamps on it, where we worry about whether our clothes were made in a sweat shop, and we try to make ethical choices with regard to human and animal welfare, and the environment. Do we really think that performance and leisure horses have a place in the human food chain?

If there is still a demand for horse meat after this latest scandal let it be met by horses that are bred and raised specifically for meat in the country that wishes to consume them. Let them be reared on registered, regulated farms and then finally be slaughtered in an equine-appropriate facility. If you look at all the research into horse slaughter facilities worldwide, time and time again, traceability and welfare concerns are raised.

Better designed

I would challenge anyone to name a current fit-for-purpose, equine appropriate slaughter facility where stress and pain is kept to an absolute minimum. It has been achieved in many facilities for cattle. Dr Temple Grandin is an American academic and animal behaviourist and a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter. Her advice and suggestions have led to vastly improved cattle handling facilities on farms as well as better designed slaughter facilities that reduce the stress and risks to the animals from their arrival right through to their slaughter. These designs have been adopted in many countries including Ireland. Grandin has produced specific guidelines for equine slaughter facilities but as she points out, once you have the correct structures, layout and system in place, the training and management of all staff is the key as to how stress and pain free the experience will be for the animal.

Grandin was once asked by the owners of Shannonside for advice and guidance which they obviously didn’t adopt. If the Ministry had taken the trouble to familiarise themselves with these guidelines, they would have been better equipped to judge whether or not Shannonside should ever have been issued with a licence to slaughter equines. It is possible to do the job well but the question remains; is it the right option for horses?

And even if it is done well, will wider society consider it acceptable that we choose to profit from the death of the very animal that we have used for our pleasure.

Racing authorities

All high-profile equestrian disciplines need to be mindful of this but racing has to take particular notice. Racehorses are highly visible to a very large audience, be it actual racegoers, those watching on screen, or those just placing a bet. Everyone who watches and enjoys horse racing buys into the ownership of that horse when he races.

The racing authorities are trying their best to attract a wider audience and part of the drive for more followers has been, quite rightly, to make the horse the centre of attention. So how do we expect these new fans of the racehorse to react when they find out that some of those horses they cheered on the racetrack ended their days in a slaughterhouse?

The Department of Agriculture is rightly being taken to task for their failure to regulate this facility and for the lack of progress on lifetime traceability. But let’s not forget that two thirds of the horses slaughtered at Shannonside were thoroughbreds.

Without that number of thoroughbreds being sent for slaughter it is highly unlikely that Shannonside would have been a viable business.

So, what if we remove all performance and leisure horses from the European food chain? It would solve many of the welfare problems we continue to witness. Despite regulations controlling slaughterhouses, transportation and identification of horses, we still see massive failings in all three areas. If we take horses out of the food chain (apart from those specifically bred and reared on horse farms in horse-eating countries) we immediately remove the slaughterhouse option for the majority of horses which can only be positive for the retention of our social licence, as well as for horse welfare.

We remove the need to smuggle horses abroad for slaughter because they will not be accepted in the European slaughterhouses. The identification and traceability of horses bred specifically for horse meat in Europe will ensure that only those specifically bred and reared horses enter the food chain. The food chain is protected and performance and leisure horses are protected from the risk of ending their days in a slaughterhouse.

Safety net

The reasons that are often given for the need for an equine slaughter facility is that it acts as a safety net for those horse owners who wouldn’t otherwise do the right thing.

It prevents those owners neglecting, abandoning or even trying to kill those horses, and it prevents horses from being transported in bad conditions to inhumane slaughterhouses abroad. But the safety net isn’t working. The net has such large holes in it that it may as well not be there. Horses are still neglected, abandoned, and left to die in pits and drains – ask any rescue charity.

They are still transported abroad in horrendous conditions to be slaughtered elsewhere. Instead of relying on a safety net (that fails) to prevent the suffering caused by owners who won’t make better choices, let’s rely on the best of human nature that is still to be found in the majority of us.

Let’s actually use and enforce existing (and new if needed) legislation to ensure we have full traceability of horses, which in turn encourages responsible ownership and allows for accountability.

Let’s look at breeding controls (in the bloodstock industry as well as elsewhere) to ensure we are not simply adding to the welfare and ‘waste disposal’ problem that arises when you produce too many unwanted horses.

Let’s continue the excellent and successful educational and community projects that do so much for human and horse well-being.

Let criminal law, and the rules and regulations within racing and horse sports, demonstrate that animal cruelty and welfare breaches are not acceptable and will be severely punished.

Lifetime traceability and a tamper-proof identification system for horses is needed yesterday, not tomorrow! The technology is there, and we have an existing system for registering an equine premises and a compulsory requirement to keep an equine register. If this was digitalised and enforced, combined with new technology, we would have a system of lifetime traceability for equines.

Licensing system

It may be that a subsided euthanasia scheme is needed. It may need investment in an incinerator system if the capacity of rendering plants is insufficient. A licensing system for horses (as we have for dogs) may be one way of helping to finance this. But whichever way you look at it, the equine industry, like many other industries, produces a waste product. That may be harshly put, but that is a fact.

Other industries have had to make huge investments to manage their waste products in a socially and environmentally acceptable way. It is no longer acceptable to dump or export the problem elsewhere. The equine industry needs to face up to the problem and decide how to deal with it. And if we want to continue to enjoy horses in the way that we are so lucky to do now, we have to find a solution that protects the future of all equine sports and leisure activities – and that comes back down to retaining our social licence to operate. Let’s have the discussion.

Debby Ewing is a licensed racehorse trainer, freelance journalist and author with a keen interest in horse welfare, especially reducing injury risk. She has been involved in riding and training event horses, point-to-pointers and racehorses in both England and Ireland for over 30 years and specialises in injury rehabilitation. Under her maiden name Debby Sly, her books have included Badminton Horse Trials - The Triumphs and the Tears, The Practical Riders Handbook and The Encyclopaedia of Horses.

Dr Temple Grandin’s guidelines for humane horse slaughter

MANAGEMENT must care about having high standards of animal welfare.

1. Measurement of welfare indicators such as:

2. Video monitoring over the Internet by a third party auditing company. This prevents people from “acting good” when they know they are being watched. I have been in horse slaughter plants that had high standards when I was watching, but later they were caught on undercover videos being abusive.

3. Non slip floor in the stunning box. Horses and other animals panic when they slip. Non slip flooring is essential.

4. A level or almost level floor in the stunning box. Sloped floors are difficult for horses to stand on. A slight slope for drainage is acceptable.

5. Solid sides to prevent the horse from seeing activity on the slaughter floor.

6. A well lit stunning box will facilitate entry. Horses and other animals will not go into a dark place.

7. Eliminate distractions such as reflections on a wet floor or shiny metal. Other things that can cause balking are: air blowing on approaching horses, a hose on the floor, clothing on a fence, or seeing moving equipment. Air hissing and sounds of “banging metal” should be silenced.

8. Two people should handle the horses. One person moves the horse into the stun box and a second person shoots it. This makes it possible to be ready to shoot the horse immediately after the tailgate on the stun box is closed.

9. Do not use mechanical head restraint devices. These work well for cattle, but are not recommended for horses.

10. Some horses will moved more easily if they are led with a halter (head collar) up the race and into the stun box. Handlers should be observant to determine which horses should be led instead of being driven.

11. Only one horse at a time should be put in the stun box.

12. If a variety of horse sizes are handled, an adjustable side on the stun box is recommended. One of the most common design mistakes is making a stun box too wide, which enables the animals to turn around.