World Horse Welfare has revealed shocking new findings in its campaign against the suffering of horses transported to slaughter.
Suffering
The international charity describes how horses travelling across Europe to the slaughterhouse are enduring appalling conditions.
On one European journey horses were travelled 1,400 miles by road with only one rest stop.
World Horse Welfare Field Officer Tony Evans found how much mental and physical strain the horses were put under.
“Some had feet so badly deformed that standing on them would have been painful for a few minutes let alone a whole day.
“Stallions had been tethered at the rest stop next to mares with young foals mixed in. With no water available during their journey the horses were dehydrated and eager to drink as soon as they could” he said.
Fat frightened and fighting
As well as dehydrated the horses were extremely overweight and forced to stand so close to each other that fights broke out.
The horses had travelled from Poland through the Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary Slovenia and were resting in Northern Italy where Tony witnessed the suffering.
“The horses were quiet withdrawn and tense. It was a heartbreaking sight for anyone to see” he said.
World Horse Welfare charity is continuing to gather evidence to take to the European Commission and other policy makers that the current laws allowing these journeys cause horses to suffer.