Local Horse Sanctuary Appeals For Public Support Due to NI's Worst Ever Equine Welfare Crisis
Over the past week, the subject of horse welfare has been widely reported in the media, most notably due to horse meat found in ‘beef’ burgers and the uncover footage exposing the abuse endured by horses sent for slaughter. Questions have now been raised about the lack of adequate regulations enforced within the horse meat industry and what action needs to be taken to ensure horses sent for slaughter are not exposed to the barbaric and inhumane welfare breaches captured on film.
Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary is currently NI’s only horse rescue charity and they have described how the recent revelations are no surprise to them. Lyn Friel, Founder of Crosskennan explained “Obviously people are very upset and angry about the footage they’ve seen, but we have been campaigning for years about the lack of regulations within the horse meat industry and the need for everyone within the equine sector to work together to improve the current unprecedented equine welfare crisis. We wanted to highlight the number of loopholes within the system especially given the unprecedented number of horses being discarded and deemed surplus to requirement. We are trying to get people to choose a dignified end for their horse rather than sending it into a system with little or no welfare checks; those who naively think their horse will have a quick and clean end to its life are sadly mistaken! Having your horse quietly put to sleep in familiar surroundings is the least we can do for them when their time comes.”
Lyn continued “Whilst we DO NOT condone the slaughter of horses, we accept that it is going to continue regardless, and as such we’re calling for:
- Significantly improved welfare standards
- CCTV in ALL slaughterhouses; abattoir workers are less likely to breach welfare regulations if they know they are being filmed.
- The current equine passport regulations to be reviewed and enforced to ensure traceability for all horses whilst also providing their comprehensive medical history;
- The need for regular veterinary checks to be performed within the slaughterhouses
- Compulsory licencing of holding yards run by agencies acting on behalf of slaughterhouses. Quite often the level of suffering endured in these yards is horrendous – injured, sick and neglected horses stand in filth, without access to food or water as they await their journey to death.”
According to Crosskennan, one of the major factors feeding into this problem is the huge numbers of abandoned and unwanted horses being dumped and left to fend for themselves. Lyn explained “For years we’ve called for an end to indiscriminate breeding and also a major reduction in horses purposely being bred for either the track or competition due to the sheer number of horses being discarded into the meat industry just because they “didn’t tick all the boxes.” Brood mares, sometimes heavily pregnant are commonplace in the meat yards, as are yearlings and young stock that didn’t make the grade. The surplus number of unwanted horses (estimated to be between 20-30,000 in the north and south of Ireland alone) now completely outweighs the demand and as a direct result, their price has plummeted with horses regularly being sold for as little as £5. Once an animal becomes that worthless in monetary terms it is inevitable that its welfare will suffer as they will simply be seen as disposable. It’s an appalling situation and one that is being made worse by the seemingly endless indiscriminate breeding of horses and ponies with no future.”
Crosskennan are receiving calls on a daily basis about dumped or abandoned horses that are either fly-grazing or left to wander the roads. They are currently in the middle of an incredibly difficult rescue operation involving horses dumped in Cavehill Country Park, Belfast. Lyn and a team of dedicated Crosskennan volunteers have been accessing the situation for a number of weeks but their efforts to progress with the rescue are being hampered by both the dangerous terrain and severe weather conditions. There are approximately 20 semi-feral horses running loose over a vast area of Cavehill. These include injured and pregnant horses whose body condition is now starting to deteriorate due to lack of food. Lyn said “We’ve put a considerable amount of time and resources into trying to rescue these horses, but our efforts are being hampered due to the obvious dangers presented by the uneven and boggy terrain combined with unpredictable weather conditions. However, once we manage to round up the horses to be assessed and transported to safety, we are then put in the difficult position of trying to find places for them. Currently we are full to capacity with over 100 horses in our care and we simply cannot continue to rescue horses in need unless the public support us by way of financial donations and also by coming forward to offer one of our rehabilitated rescue horses a home – whether it be temporary or permanent. It’s time everyone started to listen to the appeals made by equine welfare groups to stop the indiscriminate breeding and offer a rescue horse a home instead of buying one from a dealer or breeder. We have some fabulous horses in our care, most perfectly healthy and being re-schooled to rid them of the baggage heaped upon them by man’s ignorance and human error. Every time we rehome one of our beautiful rescue horses, it creates a space for us to save more horses in desperate need of our help. We would appeal to anyone with stabling and turnout facilities to get in touch with us to offer one of our rehabilitated horses or ponies a second chance in life. We need to keep freeing up space at the Sanctuary to allow us to admit more needy horses. We are more than prepared to offer our support to anyone who rehomes one of our ponies to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge to care for them and continue with their training needs.”
In a recent press release the National Equine Welfare Council explained that • The rescue charities are all completely overwhelmed with the numbers of abandoned and stray horses callously left to fend for themselves and facing a slow death from starvation. It has now reached the point where authorities are looking towards destroying large numbers of abandoned horses simply because there is nowhere for them. It’s time EVERYONE started to listen to the appeals made by equine welfare groups to STOP the indiscriminate breeding and offer a RESCUE horse a home instead of buying one from a dealer or breeder. We have some fabulous horses in our care, most perfectly healthy and being re-schooled to rid them of the baggage heaped upon them by MAN’S ignorance and HUMAN error. Every time we rehome one of our beautiful rescue horses, it creates a space for us to save more horses in desperate need of our help. IF YOU HAVE STABLING FACILITES AND TURNOUT AREAS THEN PLEASE CONSIDER TAKING ON A RESCUE HORSE TO ESSENTIALLY SAVE ANOTHER HORSES LIFE! The rescue charities are all completely overwhelmed with the numbers of abandoned and stray horses callously left to fend for themselves and facing a slow death from starvation. It has now reached the point where authorities are looking towards destroying large numbers of abandoned horses simply because there is nowhere for them. It’s time EVERYONE started to listen to the appeals made by equine welfare groups to STOP the indiscriminate breeding and offer a RESCUE horse a home instead of buying one from a dealer or breeder. We have some fabulous horses in our care, most perfectly healthy and being re-schooled to rid them of the baggage heaped upon them by MAN’S ignorance and HUMAN error. Every time we rehome one of our beautiful rescue horses, it creates a space for us to save more horses in desperate need of our help. IF YOU HAVE STABLING FACILITES AND TURNOUT AREAS THEN PLEASE CONSIDER TAKING ON A RESCUE HORSE TO ESSENTIALLY SAVE ANOTHER HORSES LIFE! The rescue charities are all completely overwhelmed with the numbers of abandoned and stray horses callously left to fend for themselves and facing a slow death from starvation. It has now reached the point where authorities are looking towards destroying large numbers of abandoned horses simply because there is nowhere for them. It’s time EVERYONE started to listen to the appeals made by equine welfare groups to STOP the indiscriminate breeding and offer a RESCUE horse a home instead of buying one from a dealer or breeder. We have some fabulous horses in our care, most perfectly healthy and being re-schooled to rid them of the baggage heaped upon them by MAN’S ignorance and HUMAN error. Every time we rehome one of our beautiful rescue horses, it creates a space for us to save more horses in desperate need of our help. IF YOU HAVE STABLING FACILITES AND TURNOUT AREAS THEN PLEASE CONSIDER TAKING ON A RESCUE HORSE TO ESSENTIALLY SAVE ANOTHER HORSES LIFE!Charities are telling government and public that they will not be able to solve this problem alone. They want government and the public to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Government can do this by proposing new legislation to encourage responsible ownership and improve accountability of owners including the enforcement of passport regulations, and the public can help by rehoming a rescue horse/pony or in the case of horse owners, keeping on top of their own situations to ensure they do not spiral into welfare problems. They can also limit breeding of their own horses or stop breeding completely. The rescue charities are all completely overwhelmed with the numbers of abandoned and stray horses callously left to fend for themselves and facing a slow death from starvation. It has now reached the point where authorities are looking towards destroying large numbers of abandoned horses simply because there is nowhere for them.
Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary now has to raise £15,000 per month to keep their gates open for NI’s abandoned and neglected horses. They receive no government funding and solely rely on public donations to continue with their rescue work. If you would like to make a donation to the Sanctuary you can do so online via their website www.crosskennanlane.org.uk or simply text CLAS12 and the amount you want to donate to 70070. Alternatively you can post a cheque or postal order to 26 Crosskennan Lane, Antrim, BT41 3SG. If you would like to offer one of their horse or ponies a temporary/permanent home or set up a monthly donation by direct debit, then please contact them on 02894 465384 or crosskennan@hotmail.co.uk
Please view this video documentary by the BBC created over four years ago featuring Lynn Friel and other local industry experts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/7951408.stm
