World Horse Welfare ‘Make a Noise' Campaign and Petition
World Horse Welfare ‘Make a Noise' Campaign and Petition After over eight decades of tireless campaigning for an end to the horrific live transportation of horses for slaughter, World Horse Welfare (the new name for the International League for the Protection of Horses - ILPH) believes there is now a real opportunity to finally stop this unnecessary trade for good, with the EU Commission planning to review the law* which regulates the conditions under which slaughter horses are required to be transported. |  |
Davies of Oldham affirmed that the Government wished to see an end to the live transport of horses for slaughter throughout the EU and that horses should be slaughtered as near as possible to their premises of origin. You can download the full debate from the World Horse Welfare Web Site as a PDF.
Ada Cole, World Horse Welfare's founder, started the charity's campaign to end long distance transportation of live horses after witnessing the horrifying sight of horses being unloaded on the docks of Antwerp in 1911. Today, horses are still packed into lorries and transported live across long distances in Europe, under inhumane conditions, suffering from stress, injuries, exhaustion and dehydration, only to be slaughtered for their meat. Over 100,000 horses endure these needless journeys every year; 84% of these horses are destined for Italy. A far greater proportion of horses are transported live for slaughter (or for further fattening) than any other ‘meat' species, by a very large margin - an unnecessary practice when slaughter at source is a viable option.
World Horse Welfare has received cross party support from MEPs on this issue. Conservative Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the EU Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. You can
World Horse Welfare ‘Make a Noise' Campaign and Petition
World Horse Welfare has launched an online petition as part of its Make a Noise campaign, asking the European Commission to put an end to the long distance transport of horses for slaughter in Europe.
Please sign the petition HERE
"We have evidence that the Regulation is routinely flouted with lorries not stopping during journeys and horses travelling in mixed groups of stallions, mares and geldings of all sizes and ages. As a result we see terrible injuries caused by fighting or falling on the lorry," explains White. "The Regulation does not go far enough as there is no finite journey limit, meaning that horses are transported for days across Europe. This needless and unnecessary suffering is totally unacceptable when there are viable alternatives.
"These horses desperately need our help - World Horse Welfare continues to put pressure on the EU to change the Transport Regulations," White continues. "As well as working for an end to the long-distance transportation of live horses for slaughter, we're lobbying for a short finite journey limit and for horses to be slaughtered close to their place of origin, so that they don't have to endure unnecessary journeys. In the short term, we are campaigning for rigorous enforcement of existing legislation so that these vulnerable horses are properly rested, fed and watered during these journeys."
How to Get Involved
World Horse Welfare is calling upon its supporters and the general public to join the campaign and help push the necessary changes through. The charity has raised a petition and is aiming to gather 100,000 signatures to present to the Commission - one for every horse involved in the live transportation trade each year. Supporters are also being asked to write letters to their own MPs and MEPs asking them to raise the issue as a matter of urgency. The petition and information on other ways to get involved in World Horse Welfare's campaign are at www.makeanoise.co.uk.
View a World Horse Welfare video of MEP's speaking out and read other World Horse Welfare reports on this subject HERE
Related Article and Video:
Handle With Care: Stop Long Distance Transport of Animals for Slaughter
Watch Horse and Hound News Editor Abi Butcher's video of her first hand experience of the transportation of horses for slaughter HERE
Added on: 01/08/08.
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