Horse Abattoirs

boxerly

Just wonddering does anyone have any experience with horse abattoirs?can you go in and take a horse out?

fits

Generally they have a specific day they will slaughter horses and the horses wont be there very long. At most a couple of hours. Also the abbatoir will have paid for them and probably marked their passport, so I'd imagine not too easily.

Why would you want to do this?

convert

If I brought a horse to an abatoir to be put down, I'd be well p*ssed off if somebody could come in and take my horse home with them. If I'd wanted them rehomed, I'd have done it myself, where I could have a say in who I gave/sold my horse to.

I think there was an issue over this recently, where horses which were supposed to have been sold to a factory were transported and rehomed abroad, including the UK. The fact only arose when somebody in the UK contacted the relvant governing body (I think it was Weatherbys) looking for the passport to be re-issued for the horse, only to discover that, according to Weatherbys' records, the horse had gone to the factory.

fits

I agree completely with Convert. Often horses are there for a reason. And the owners may have horses best interests at heart. Some prefer to choose a quick and definite end for their animal to the horse being passed from pillar to post.

boxerly

Alot of the time healthy horses are send there maybe they are too slow,dont give good foals etc etc obviously sick horses go aswell.I worked on a stud farm so am aware.People surrender dogs to pounds everyday of the week,most of which are rehomed so why not horses?I plan on getting a horse next summer and would like to save one rather than buy one so was thinking about saving one.I have known people over the years who have gotten beautiful good horses and ponies from an abattoir.

convert

Why specifically target abattoirs? Would you not just contact IHWT or other charities which rehome horses?

fits

You wouldnt know the history or reasons why the horse is there. Yeah it could be a perfectly fine animal but it might be unrideable or have some unseen ailment. Its very risky and I would strongly advise against. Would be much better to go IHWT and perhaps free up space for another animal which otherwise might have ended up in factory.

boxerly

Ye,I know its very risky but so many horses die in there just feel guily about buying one I suppose :(thanks for advice will keep saving and contact a rescue when I get closer to the time,thanks

fits

Honestly, dont feel guilty. I know so many people, so many novice owners in particular who have bought a horse and it hasnt worked out. There are two common reasons for this. 1. They want a really cheap horse or 2 They want a really pretty horse. You're not going to find a horse in an abbatoir that has been ridden lots recently and gotten miles under the belt AND that is sound. Those type of horses just dont end up in slaughter houses.

My advice is to budget for at least 2500 euro for the right animal and you will get a good animal for that. Temperament is of utmost importance and also training. Unless you really have competitive ambitions get the type of animal that isnt going to freak out if you havent ridden in a couple of days. And an animal that you can bring places and have fun with without putting your life in danger.

If you want to rescue a horse after that, rescue one as a companion and if it turns out to be more well then thats a bonus! But remember vets fees can add up very bloody quickly.

Imhof Tank

OP, dog pounds and horse abbatoirs are not comparable.

The dog pound does not want to put animals down.

The abbatoir deals in horse meat. This is their business - they are not interested in re-homing, quite the opposite.

Cherry Blossom

OP, contact your district council and ask where your nearest horse pound is, the horse pound should operate on the same basic principle as the dog pounds, you pay the fees, get the paperwork/micro chipping sorted and the horse is yours. The abattoirs are not comparable to dog pounds. It's very unlikely you'll find a TB/ sports horse etc. in the pounds, but if you don't mind re-homing a young trotter its possible to turn it around to make a decent riding horse.

boxerly

ok so up till last night I was very niave about a horse abattoir :(I thought that sick,unwated,broken down,stray horses were brought there and that the "good" ones were used for meat and the others were humanely pts I was soooooooooooo wrong.Wish I hadnt but I looked on youtube and I was nearly sick :(didnt sleep last night and still have the images in my head of the torture they go through and even some sick f***ers joking as they are doing it :(never saw anything like it before .Thanks for the comments guys xxxx

fits

boxerly wrote: »

I thought that sick,unwated,broken down,stray horses were brought there and that the "good" ones were used for meat and the others were humanely pts

I'm not sure you're in full possession of the facts now either.

Horses cant go to a slaugher house without a full equine passport which they would have since birth. They ALL go for meat. The factories buy the horses. If someone brings a horse, on arrival the horse will be examined and scanned for a microchip to make sure the passport matches the horse. Shortly after the horse will be brought to killing area where they will be killed by a humane killer to the head. They'll go through a trapdoor and processed from there.

Its not pleasant but its not cruel either. I dont know what happens in other countries.

I always have doubts when I hear about horses being stolen for meat because you need a passport to sell it for meat here. And a clean one at that. Bute cant have been administered over the horses lifetime etc. I believe they're getting strict on that now.

CavanLady

I'm not so sure the passport check is properly carried out at all abbatoirs. I had the loan of a horse (an ex-racer) that I was chasing the passport for as I needed it for insurance cover and had trouble getting it (was told it was in the post from weatherbys and then lost and reapplying). I then saw that she was listed as deceased on NED so I contacted Wetherby's and was told that the horse had gone to abbatoir about 2 weeks before she had arrived with me! :eek:

She was definitely the right horse as my vet scanned her microship for the 5 stage vetting for insurance.

I know of others in the same situation, so I wonder are horses (stolen) going to abbatoir with incorrect passports and making their way into the the food chain?

convert

boxerly wrote: »

ok so up till last night I was very niave about a horse abattoir :(I thought that sick,unwated,broken down,stray horses were brought there and that the "good" ones were used for meat and the others were humanely pts I was soooooooooooo wrong.Wish I hadnt but I looked on youtube and I was nearly sick :(didnt sleep last night and still have the images in my head of the torture they go through and even some sick f***ers joking as they are doing it :(never saw anything like it before .Thanks for the comments guys xxxx

Don't forget that a lot of these videos are put up on 'net by animal rights and animal welfare 'organisations' (some more legitimate than others), many of whom have a specific agenda with regard to that topic. Without mentioning any names here, I know that at least one (legitimate and well known) organisation which has a video there is campaigning to ban some sports involving horses (not hunting). It's very easy to make somethig look worse than it is, or only show cases where something goes wrong, or clips which are designed to be emotive. Moreover, a lot of the footage is shot 'secretly' and without permission, so the angles leave a lot to be desired.

Furhtermore, it's also possible that the a lot of the footage can come from unlicensed or 'illegal' abattoirs where standards are not up to scratch. Every abattoir, whether for cattle, horses, etc., have to adhere to strict guidelines regarding the welfare of the animals they're dealing with. These premises are inspected regularly, and a vet is on site to inspect the meat which has been processed. Also, as fits mentioned, all cattle and horses which arrive at abattoirs are inspected to ensure that the animal matches the bluecard (cattle) or passport (horse), and that tag and microchip numbers are correct.

Putting an animal down is never pleasant, whatever humane method is used. A lot of people find it very upsetting, and therefore when they see people talking when the animal is being put down they can't fathom what they see as the individual's lack of emotive reaction from those working there. But people who are used to seeing death have learned how to deal with it. It's like doctors and nurses. The last time I was in a hospital following a family bereavement, I saw the doctors and nurses who had been in to sympathise with us laughing and chatting just outside the door when I came out (we obviously couldn't hear them or see them when we were in the room). It doesn't mean that they weren't genuine in their sympathy or being disrespectful to us, it's just they have learned how to deal with death in different ways when they see it every day.

convert

CavanLady wrote: »

I'm not so sure the passport check is properly carried out at all abbatoirs. I had the loan of a horse (an ex-racer) that I was chasing the passport for as I needed it for insurance cover and had trouble getting it (was told it was in the post from weatherbys and then lost and reapplying). I then saw that she was listed as deceased on NED so I contacted Wetherby's and was told that the horse had gone to abbatoir about 2 weeks before she had arrived with me! :eek:

She was definitely the right horse as my vet scanned her microship for the 5 stage vetting for insurance.

I know of others in the same situation, so I wonder are horses (stolen) going to abbatoir with incorrect passports and making their way into the the food chain?

I mentioned this in an earlier post. There's an investigation going on into what happened, so we have to be careful what we say about it. Just curious, when you say you got a loan of the horse, who did you get it from? The original owner/trainer? Or somebody who had bought the horse after she finished racing? Or a rescue?

CavanLady

Oh don't worry, I had a horrible experience with the whole thing which probably means I won't get another horse so I won't be dragging it all back up again or mentioning anything I shouldn't

She was from a 'rescue' but I did all you shouldn't do when getting a horse and learned a hard lesson!

convert

CavanLady wrote: »

Oh don't worry, I had a horrible experience with the whole thing which probably means I won't get another horse so I won't be dragging it all back up again or mentioning anything I shouldn't

She was from a 'rescue' but I did all you shouldn't do when getting a horse and learned a hard lesson!

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with your (first?) horse. Hopefully you learned a lot from it, though, and that it hasn't put you off getting another horse when you feel you're ready. There's a few threads around the forum which may be of use to you if/when the time comes!

Did the rescue give you any background info on her or how they came to have her in the rescue? Was it the one you mentioned in an earlier thread?

CavanLady

She was my first, I did a lot of riding when I was younger and got my Stage 3 when I left school. Then not long after I moved in with my now husband, I had a bad fall from a horse and badly broke my leg so took 10 years out, had a family and all that jazz, so last Jan 2011, I started back taking lessons and decided in March the time was right to go for my childhood dream of having my own horse. As I'm keen on rescues (all four of my dogs are rescues) I decided to go the same route for a horse. I came across the rescue in question by accident, and fell in love with the pic of a TB mare on there. Sent in an app and was approved pending a check (which never happened). Went to visit her and just seen her in the stable, no one rode her and I didn't ask and still went ahead. They told me she never raced but was trained for NH, then went to a girl for show jumping and ended up with them.

She arrived out of the blue one day and as she found her feet, I could see she was too much for me. Very aggressive, impossible to mount, lethal in the stable to groom or tack, barging, couldn't be tied up, food agressive so had to be fed out of the field though to ride, once you got on, she was perfect. But not what I had hoped for my first horse. I imagined forming a bond but it was far from that. Then I had knee surgery to clean out the knee after the damage from the fall so she wasn't doing any work for a few weeks though living out 24/7. When I was a bit steadier on my feet, I went to lead her from the field to have her feed and she turned on a 6 pence and double barrelled me in the chest putting me in hospital for a week! With two young children I coudn't afford to take the risk so I sent her back (which is a whole other story!). It took me a long time to get my confidence back. I'm now riding again twice a week but still have niggles at the beginning of every lesson! I'm ready for another horse however, my husband is not after seeing me have the fall and then the kick he doesn't trust any horses now.

Sorry for the long waffle! :rolleyes:

fits

^ OH my God!

Can you pm me the name of the 'rescue'?

I've had bad experiences with them too (with dogs) and am so so wary of them now. But there are good ones out there. I would still never consider rescueing a horse though.

I know Convert will disagree with me, but I dont think TBs are suitable for a first horse at all. They are beautiful talented animals but...

Also, NEver take on a horse without its passport. Lots of people are caught out with that. The passport should always stay with the horse. (and slaughter houses wont accept horses with duplicate passports just as a btw)

CavanLady

Oh it wasn't my intention to take her without the passport. I was waiting over month while they were to get another one issued and then I got a call to say they were on the road and I presumed all was in order until she arrived and with all the excitement I couldn't turn her away.

Well, I'm sure I the right hands TBs make fab horses but I just wasn't tough enough with her and whatever baggage she had too. No more TBS for me I'm afraid.

Dubford!

hey boxerly, its Dubford here, just wondering if you got a horse after? i have a 16.1hh bay mare by mull of kintyre out of calaloo forest by shinko forest, im trying to rehome her as my own mare has to be put down for medical reasons and i want out of horses, the bay mare is free to good home, if she's not gone by the end of the month il have no choice but to bring her to the abattoir

if you could get back to me soonest id appreciate it

marley123

How old? What has she done?

Have you tried Hollys/IHWT?

Dubford! wrote: »

hey boxerly, its Dubford here, just wondering if you got a horse after? i have a 16.1hh bay mare by mull of kintyre out of calaloo forest by shinko forest, im trying to rehome her as my own mare has to be put down for medical reasons and i want out of horses, the bay mare is free to good home, if she's not gone by the end of the month il have no choice but to bring her to the abattoir

if you could get back to me soonest id appreciate it

boxerly

Hi dubford..havnt been on much,sorry only seeing your post now.What a lovely offer but unfortunately Ive had to put getting a horse on hold for now .Really hope you get a home for her xxx

silverfox88

Any more info dubford? How old, what has she done etc? Where are you based?