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THE VETERINARY JO URNAL

Editorial THE " OLD HORSE TRAFFIC" BOGEY, THE LAY PRESS, AND THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE. SoME years ago there wa a very justifiable crusade, in which the gen eral public a nd the Press, aided by certain m embers of the veterinary profession , took a prominent part, against the transport of old and decrepit horses across the eas t o be killed for human food . Th e result was th at in 1919 certain Government regula tions were made, and the responsibility for th eir proper a nd effi cient administra tion was placed on the Veterin ary D epartment of the Ministry of Agriculture. That the confidence which was pl.a ced in tho e of our colleagues to whom these duties were entrusted has not b een misplaced can b e confirmed at any time b y anyone who will only take the trouble to investigate the subj ect personally ; a nd it is astonishing tha t statem ents such as the following have b een allowed publication in such a reputable sporting pape r as the Field, in which in the issue for December 28th last, a letter appears in which the correspondent states, under th e heading of " British Horses Exported for Butchery," : " I am anxious to m a ke the readers of th e Field conversant with its horrors. As a n a tion we endeavour to uphold the cause of justice a nd humanity and to prQtect the oppressed , yet at the same tim e the a ppalling fact remains tha t the most c ruel trade-th e exportation of horses for slaughter abroad-continues to this day . . . . It is an actual fact th at between 200-300 h orses leave our sh ores every week and their fate when they r each foreign soil is in th e maj ority of case too gh astly to dwell upon . " \"lhilst the poor animals await death they suffer from hunger , exhaustion and fear. Once condemned to death no th ought is taken and no sufferin g appears to matter . . .. . " The pressure of public opin ion alone will assure th e suppression • of this horrible traffic." In the Daily E xpress for March there a ppeared a series of articles with such horrifying headlines as " Wh at a re th ey doing for our old Horses?"; " How th e ghastly traffi c could be stopped "; " Inhuman e treatment on th e Continent " ; " Doom ed to Slaughter "; and the Editorial pen was ~ven inveigled into a paragraph under th e heading of " A barbarous traffi c." Moreover, in th e same widely read paper, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was reproach ed fo r its surmised

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apathy and lac k of duty in not investigating and moving in the matter, and a letter from th e Cha irman was published in the issue of the paper fo r March 19th from which we quote that " the R.S .P .C. A. is at once having a furth er most careful and exhaustive investigation made," sta ting, too, that it is quite obvious that eith er the statement made by the Mini ter of Agriculture or the uggestion of the Daily Express correspondent must be inaccura te. In th e meantime a society known as " The International League Again st the Export of Hor es for Butchery " has ta ken the opportunity to issue leafl e ts by post a nd otherwise with h eadlines such as " Torture of British Horses in Continental Slaughter Houses" ; "Expo ure of Gh astly Traffi c " ; etc. ' Wh at a re the actual fact s? So much has the subj ect been prominently brought forward before the public lately that the Ministry of Agriculture has found it necessary to take official action a nd , as m embers of a profession whose honour is involved and whose whole life is given up to endeavours to find methods of alleviating a nimal suffering, it will give pleasure to our readers to note the dignifi.ed tone of the reply issued. The following note was sent to the Press a few days ago : " EXPORTATION OF HORSES. " In v iew of the dis turbing a nd misleading allegations made in certain recent newspaper a rticles concerning the export of horses for immediate sla ughter, th e Minister of Agriculture a nd Fisheries desires to give publicity to the facts, which are as follows. " Th e law of Great Britain prohibits th e shipment from this coun try of a ny horse unless it has been examined by a Veterinary Inspector of the Ministry immedia tely b efore shipment and passed as fit to travel and also to work without sufferin g. This prohibition is very rigidly enforced and the Mini try h as not reduced in the slightest degree the high standard of fitness which has n ow for some years b een adopted in respect of every h orse passed for export. It may be accepted that no horse which could be described as decrepit or worn out is allowed to be exported . " The recent n ewspa per articles could only h ave led the public to believe that 200 or m ore horses are sent to the Contin ent every week from th ese shores to be slaughtered a t certain a battoir~ in France under ghastly and cruel conditions, but nothing could be fa rther from the truth. Apa rt from th e question wheth er the conditions a t the P aris abattoirs referred to in th ose a rticles have been correctly reported, no horses have been sent th ere fo r slaughter from this country sin ce 1925,

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so that those conditions have no relevance whatever to horses sent from Great Britain for slaughter. " During 1929 the total number of horses passed for shipment to the Continent was 9,912. According to the information furni hed to the Ministry' In spector at the ports at the time of shipment, 4,371 of th ese were intended for laughter on arrival abroad, and all but 29 of the latter went to Holland where the use of the humane killer is made compulsory by law and where th e public aba ttoirs are among th e best in the world. The remain ing 29 were all, acco rding to th e inform ation received by the Ministry slaughtered with the humane killer at the Boulogne abattoir. " It will be recalled that the export trade in horses wa thoroughly investigated in 1925 by a Departmental Committee who reported that they were sati fi ed that the provisions of the Exportation of Horse Acts were ffi ciently arried out and that the closing of the Continental market to horses from this country pa ed as fit to work could not be justified on any grounds.

" Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, " Whitehall Place, London , S.W.l. " 27th March, 1930." Furthermore, in th e Animal World (the official organ of th e R. .P.C.A .) for this month (April) there appears the following: " THE EXPORT OF HORSES By

SIR

ROBE RT

GoWER ,

M.P., Chairman of the R .. P .C.A.

" The public has been shocked by suggestion recently made that ' two hw1dred or more ' horses are exported each week (i .e. at least 10,400 a year) from this country to the Continent for butchery and-or many of them- slaughtered there under hocking and inhumane con ditions. In respon e to urgent requests made to tho e responsible for . such suggestions, no evidence or information at all has been forthcoming from them in _support of their allegation so far a th e year 1929 or ince is concerned . The investigation conducted some months ago by the R.S .P.C.A . failed to di cover any foundation whatever for the uggested state of affairs. In reply to questions put to him , the Minister fo r Agriculture has definitely stated that during th e year 1929 only 4,371 horses were exported to the Continent for butchery and that as t he result of careful inquiries he is sati fi ed that all these horses were laughtered by mean of humane killers. " The suggestion which ha been made as to th e fate of horses exported for butchery to Holland i clearly wrong. In Holland it is illegal for horses and other animals to be slaughtered except by means of the

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humane killer and under humane conditions. Th e public a battoirs there where the la rge majority of hor es a re sla ughtered a re amongst the most effi ient and best equipped in the world. The same law, i.e. the compulsory use of th huma ne killer for the slaughter of a ll a nimals, also applie to private laughter hou s and abattoirs in H olla nd and the Dutch Government ha stated th at it i strictly enfo rced. I wish the same la w were in opera tion here. " H aving regard to the suggestion made regarding the alleged inhumane manner in which horses exported abroad fo r butchery are now slaught red, the R.S .P .C.A., notwithstanding that those re ponsible have not up to now provided a crap of evidence or a tittle of informa tion to justify their suggestions, is a t once having a full, exhaustive and impartial investigation made to ascertain whether those suggestion or the definite as ertions to the contrary made by the Minister of Agric).llture are correct. The result of that investigation will be published imm dia tely it is completed . Any evidence or information which will assist in th e making of the inquiry we shall be grat eful to receive. " In order, however, to allay public anxiety thi interim sta tement is being ma d . The R. .P .C.A. has always been and is.fully alive to its respon ibilities in the ma tter and is whole-hear tedly supporting the Bill at present before Parlia ment so as to remove the possibility of Bri tish horses which are sent to the Continent for purposes other than butchery being ultim a tely slaughtered under satisfactory conditions." F urther comment is needless, except to wonder why a reputable Jay press should have allowed such harrow_ing details to be is ued to the public without having fac ts behind to prove them if necessary.