[Min]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24952823

Princess Anne has come out to say she thinks unwanted horse would be better treated if they could be sold for meat.

Does this sound feasible to anyone? It doesn't really to me because surely if you would neglect a horse, getting bunged a few quid for it is not going to make you feed and worm it properly! 

[chrismahon]

Makes sense to me Min. If the animal is unhealthy it can't be sold for human consumption. So if you don't want it, for a bit of tlc and expense it can be worth the effort financially and is better for the horse.

[happygolucky]

Pet food maybe? I find the reason I am not keen is we think of horses as pets but otherwise, they are no different to other animal stock that we do eat......the worming bit could be of concern though

[shygirl]

i agree wholeheartedly.

but its not a popular view in the uk.

[mowhaugh]

I thought Princess Anne spoke a lot of sense.  I would much rather see unwanted horses humanely slaughtered for a purpose rather than neglected and passed from pillar to post.  Agree there would be work to be done re withdrawals for medication etc., but it is perfectly possible.

[doganjo]

Personally I don't think I could east horse, but so long as all the usual safeguards are in place as for other meats i can see that it could prove a valuable addition to diets for some people.  Would it be more or less expensive i wonder?

[Ina]

Horse meat consumption in other countries (Germany, for one) went up thanks to the horse meat "scandal". I think it's very brave of her to come out with this in the public domain, and even admitting that she herself feels a bit squeamish about it - so she recognises that it might be a problem to get the general public to accept this!

[Min]

Makes sense to me Min. If the animal is unhealthy it can't be sold for human consumption. So if you don't want it, for a bit of tlc and expense it can be worth the effort financially and is better for the horse.

Yes that's true, if standards have to be met before slaughter then they have to be met.

[Rosemary]

I've been saying this for some time - too many horses, too many neglected horses - we need to get past ourselves and allow them to be humanely slaughtered for meat BUT an awful lot of horses wouldn't be able to enter the human food chain because of the routine use on bute.

Also are we  / is HRH talking about the slaughter of unwanted animals OR the farming of horses for meat?

There also needs to be proper slaughter facilities for horses LOCALLY as the transport of live horses for slaughter is a nightmare (see WHW campaigns against live horse transport on the continent).

ATM, we can barely slaughter farm livestock locally 

[Min]

Mind you, the handy links at the bottom of the page have just brought up this thread  :-
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=30537.0

Also are we  / is HRH talking about the slaughter of unwanted animals OR the farming of horses for meat?

She is talking about unwanted animals but one would lead to the other pretty quickly of course.

[Castle Farm]

There are hundreds of horses being fly grazed all over the UK. Every horse should be micro chipped and any that aren't should go for meat.


Since the horse meat row the bottom has dropped even lower in the horse market. If they are worth nothing or next to nothing some people will not bother looking after them.



Turning horses into food is a brilliant idea my OH has 2 here you could start with

[Bionic]

Shocking report on todays Welsh news about neglected horses. 45 have had to be destroyed and 200 taken into care. These were all in one place.
I am sure horses raised for meat would be better looked after.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would be happy with it but only with specialist and close by abbatoirs, because of the highly strung flight nature of horses. Def not long transporting. With untamed wild ones it might be preferable to adopt the rules applicable to deer farming.

[Rosemary]

Maybe it's not eating horse that we have to get over.

It's likely that if we get over it, then folk will start farming horses and personally, I'm not very comfortable with that. Although the way some breeders turn out foals with no visible ridiing horse market seems close to that anyway.

Maybe what we need to get over is the stigma of saying "I can't afford this horse, I'm going to have it slaughtered". The cost of keeping horses is a high - even for well intentioned people, circumstances change, they can't afford to keep the horse so it gets neglected or sent to a rescue centre (if a place can be found).

My Shetland has been diagnosed as probably having Cushings. He's 13. He's had blood tests  today and we'll know on Tuesday. Medication is around £1.50 per day, £550 a year. He could live another 10 years. It's a tough one.

[honeyend]

Last winter there were hundreds of ponies starving to death on common land in England and Wales, this is a long standing problem but last winter with the lack of hay, grass, poor economic climate and the prolonged cold and wet just made the situation so much worse. Unlike farm animals there is very regulation in the breeding and transportation of horses and the regulations that are in place are very rarely used, I have yet to have my horse passports(12) checked by anyone.
 The animal charities seem to obsessed with saving them and then keeping them at huge expense when  I wish they would provide support for humane destruction and castration for colts, but of course that does not look good on the TV ads.
 I do not know if many of the current glut of waste equines would be suitable for human consumption as you have to sign to say they have not had bute but many would not have any paperwork to go with them. I just someone would actually get on and do something, the delegation of animal welfare prosecutions and the slavish cow towing to the RSPCA by the government seems to make matters worse.