Racehorses 'killed for human consumption' in alleged fraud and smuggling operation

An investigation has been launched into what appears to be a Europe-wide equestrian passport fraud and smuggling operation after hidden cameras captured Irish racehorses being killed for human consumption.

An hour-long documentary by Irish broadcaster RTE called “Horses: Making a Kill” was broadcast on Wednesday evening and contained graphic scenes, taken by secret cameras, of horses slipping, collapsing and being beaten with alkathene pipes in an unlicensed barn in Ireland. last licensed equine slaughterhouse in Straffan, County Kildare.

Footage also appears to show a man placing new microchips in horses' necks to change their identities, presumably to “clean” them for human consumption in Europe.

The investigation, which exposes what happens when horses and ponies are no longer useful and too expensive to maintain, claims that of the 2,000 horses that passed through the abattoir run by Shannonside Foods, between January 2023 and March this year, “the majority were thoroughbreds who have raced more than 3,000 times between them.”

Horse Racing Ireland said it would assist with investigations, including those launched by the Garda or the Department of Agriculture, while the British Horseracing Authority and World Horse Welfare reiterated their call for the Government to introduce a system digital-only identity for horses.

HRI added that it did not have data to confirm the program's figures.

France, where there are still butchers specializing in horse meat, imports 2,500 tonnes of horse meat per year and specifies that 400 tonnes come from Ireland. It is, however, illegal for any racehorse treated with the painkiller Bute – like most humans carrying Nurofen, almost all racehorses will have received Bute at some point in their career – to enter the food chain.

In a statement, HRI said it was “deeply shocked and appalled” by the content of the RTE Investigates documentary.

“The criminal behavior depicted in the documentary is disgusting and does not reflect the experience of the vast majority of the 30,000 people who earn their living in the horse racing and breeding industry in Ireland,” it said. read in the press release. “HRI has zero tolerance for the mistreatment of horses in any circumstance and criminal and regulatory sanctions must be imposed on anyone found guilty of illegal behavior towards horses.”

He adds: “The safety and care of equines is HRI’s top priority and this year HRI will invest €16.1m (£13.58m) in welfare and integrity services . The thoroughbred horse is enshrined in Irish and European law. Significant legal and regulatory checks and balances are in place for Thoroughbred horses from birth through their racing career and life cycle. HRI will look into the issues raised in the RTE documentary and will actively support any Department of Agriculture or Garda investigations and urge anyone with information about horse mistreatment to report it.

In Britain, a similar investigation was carried out by Panorama, entitled “The Dark Side of Horse Racing”, in 2021.

The BHA introduced a rule in 2022 that every racehorse must be immediately removed from the food chain with a stamp in its passport when first entered to race.

The system is not 100% secure as paper passports are not tamper-proof, hence the demand for digital passports, which would make it even more difficult for anyone to fake a horse's identity. This rule is not reciprocal in Ireland and horses trained in Ireland racing in the UK are not excluded.

If the only option for a former racehorse is to have it put down, the BHA Code of Practice recommends that it should be done at home by a vet and then removed, often cremated. This can cost around £500.

In 2023, 88 thoroughbreds passed through UK abattoirs based on passport records returned to Weatherbys, although the BHA is awaiting further information from the Foods Standards Agency. Of these, 84 were from abroad (mainly Ireland) and of the four British Thoroughbreds, only one had raced in the last four years and that was before 2022.

Last month the government passed the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill which, when presented to the next parliament, will make it illegal to transport live animals abroad for slaughter, which should, at least, make it more difficult for animals to pass through Britain. en route to the continent, which is currently the case.

Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare, said: “What we witnessed last night was scandalous and proves that, well over a decade later, the dark underbelly of the horsemeat scandal has not been resolved. never really ended. The documentary has once again lifted the veil on the dark underbelly of the horse trade and the suffering it causes. These horses have been failed in every possible way by an inherently flawed system and we hope that the disgust generated by the scheme, along with concerns over food safety, will be channeled into concrete action by EU and UK authorities .

“We desperately need a robust equine digital identification system, accessible across the EU, EEA and Britain. There is no excuse for allowing this fraudulent trade to continue and we hope that the authorities will recognize the damage it is causing and take appropriate action to stop it. We also need the abhorrent and illegal practices we endured during last night's slaughterhouse program to be stamped out immediately. Those involved must be held accountable and face significant consequences.

Horse meat, however, is only part of a much larger problem, according to food safety professor Chris Elliott interviewed for the show. “There is more money,” he explained, “in food fraud than in the global heroin trade.”

Shannonside Foods Ltd said any allegations that an equine was mistreated “will be fully investigated by the company”.