
Sky News has uncovered shocking animal welfare conditions at a UK horse abattoir.
They include animals being beaten, neglected and illegal procedures in the process of slaughtering British horses destined for European food markets.
It comes amid public anger that some of our biggest supermarkets have been selling beef burgers and other products that contained horse meat.
Sky News visited the Red Lion Abattoir near Nantwich in Cheshire after concerns were raised by Animal Welfare Group Hillside Animal Sanctuary.
Investigators at Hillside fitted secret cameras which filmed horses being beaten with an iron rod to encourage them into the pens.
Some were then crammed into the slaughter pens in pairs and, on one occasion, a group of three, before being stunned together.
In harrowing images the horses fall on top of each other. Under The Welfare of Animals Act 1995, horses should not be slaughtered in sight of one another because of the distress it causes.
Furthermore we found that sick or injured horses were left untended overnight, rather than put down immediately.
As a result of the investigation, two slaughter men have had their licences revoked. Craig Kirby, head of approvals and veterinary advice at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) told Sky News: "As soon as we got the footage and reviewed it we took immediate action to revoke the slaughter men's licences.
"That means they cannot work to slaughter animals again. We will also look to gather further evidence to see if we can prosecute."
Link: Horse Abattoir: Film Reveals Welfare Breaches - Yahoo! News UK



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