THE WORN-OUT HORSES

Evening Star, Issue 19143, 9 January 1926, Page 9

THE WORN-OUT HORSES

FLESH EATEN OH THE CONTINENT CRUELTIES OF THE TRADE Tor over - twenty years a campaign has been waged in England against tho cruellies associated with tbs traffic in worn-out horses, despatched from England to tho Continent for slaughter. In, Continental countries liorso flesh is eaten by the poorer classes of the community, because it is tbo cheapest hind of meat procurable. It is cheap because a horse is not slaughtered for food until it is unfit for work. But in England there is no sale for Imrso _ flesh, except, amongst the foreign population in the East End. The English housewife has a prejudice against horse meat, and will not buy it, though there is good reason for believing that it is often palmed off on iicr in tho form of sausages. But because (here is little demand in England for horse meat compared with tho demand _ Belgium and Trance, a horse, when it is no longer able to work, is more valuable on tho Continent than it is in England. Here and there a kindly-hearted owner will pension off a horse that has served him well, and has become too old for work. _ There aie firms in London who send their worn-out horses to farms in the country to end their days in comfort. But tho majority- or horse owners work them as long as possible, and then dispose of them for what they will bring. AVTien a horse oan no longer be worked without danger of s prosecution for cruelty, ho is sold for a few pounds to a horse dealer who exports wornout animals to the Continent. For many years appalling cruelties have been associated with this traffic, although ns the result of tho persistent efforts of humanitarian organisations, such ns tho Royal Society for tho Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, some improvements have been made in recent years. No attempt is made to provide tho smallest degree of comfort for those wretched animals on their way to death, for £very penny spent on them means loss profit for those engaged in the trade. In a rough passage across tho English Channel—and” rough passage in that narrow stretch of water are very common--they are liable to injury, but no injury ever receives expert attention. If a horse breaks its leg through being thrown down while tho steamer is buffeted by a storm, it finds its way to the slaughter-house on three legs. To put. it out of its misery and convey the carcass to the abattoir would cost more than it does to compel tho animal to limp there in pain. Food and water are denied them, for it would cost money to feed and water them, whereas a little starvation of the animal before death does not detract much from the value of meat that is old and tough. The Loudon ‘Morning Post’ recently- sent a member of its staff to investigate tbo conditions under which horses are slaughtered at tho abattoir at Vanguard, near Paris, where more horses are slaughtered than at any other place in tho world._ “A few cays passed in the study of this abattoir would bo sufficient to give any- normal person a nightmare,” ho wrote. ‘‘Homes for slaughter remain from one to three days in the stables of the abattoir. Tho flbor is of stone, and bedding is sparsely provided, if at all. Each homo is given about a handful of bay and a can of water every night. Slaughtering takes place at tho doors of two rows of sheds. Both doors of each shed are open, and in tho centre there is a yard which, as tho day wears on, becomes a ghastly mire of entrails, blood, offal, and tilth. In most cases the horses have to wade through this to (ho particular door whore the slaughterer is waiting. All around other horses are being slaughtered, and carcasses are being stripped. 1 have watched the procedure, and have seen a horse about to tso slaughtered made to wait in front of the shed while it* predecessor was being cut, up. Before a homo is slaughtered a filthy mask is placed over irs ayes, and it is hit over the head—some times twice —with a small hammer. I never saw tho pistol used once, and was informed that tho humane killer was not used.”

At the abattoirs at Brussels ami Antwerp Uiq conditions were better. At Brussels Uio pistol was used, and at Antwerp the horses were stunned with a pole axo before their throats were cut. No animal was led in io bo killed until the carcass of tbs previous victim had boon removed after bein',' stripped, ami the place washed down with a hose. But the methods of slaughtering cattle at Antwerp are exceedingly callous and primitive. "The cattle uro killed under c.aulilioas which aro so repugn ant ns to be scarcely believable.” states the representative of the * Morning Post.’ *• The auiinais aro never blindfolded. They are crowded together in the slaughter-houses with the maimed and (lying. The victim's lenr hoofs arc bound with a stout rope, which is tightened until tho beast falls to earth often with a leg cut. After this a youth, scarcely .out of his teens, comes torward sharpening a long knife on a grinding stone in front of tho beasts muzzle. When he considers tho knife sufficiently keen ho tries tho blade on the beast’s flesh, drawing it slowly across the throat until it is gashed from oar to oar. 310 is generally helped by a woman and two men, who prod and kick the animal while it is still conscious. Once I saw the operation interrupted while the knife was resharpened. During Lire whole of my visit tho slaughtermen never onco troubled to stun an animal beforehand, so that the scenes were indescribable. T witnessed nearly thirty such executions, and by the aid of a stop watch discovered that the average lime for the beasts to lie and kick in apparent consciousness is eight minutes. I saw no trace of_ ti single hammer or mechanical killer in the cattle abattoirs, although these were made compulsory during (ho German occupation, and are still somewhere on the premiers." Humanitarian organisations in England have urged that tho only way io end the abuses and cruelties associated with the truffle in worn-out horses is to pass legislation making it compulsory <o (daughter the horses in England, and export tho meat to the Continent. In England abattoirs ar regularly inspected by municipal officers, ami abuses can quickly be chocked. *But the horse dealers aro opposed to this proposal, because deed meat brings a comparatively lower price than meat on the hoof. There does not seem to be any prospect of the suggested legislation being carried through the British Parliament.