Horsemeat scandal
World Horse Welfare need your help to speak out on behalf of horses after the shocking revelations of horsemeat being found in beef products which is likely to be the product of horse suffering endured on long distance journeys to slaughter.
We also need your help to call for mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses in Britain to help stop unacceptable and illegal horse abuse as revealed at a British slaughterhouse.
What you can do:
If you live in Europe, please sign our petition and email Commissioner Borg. As a European resident, these revelations affect you. Please take action now, to improve the welfare of horses entering the human food chain. You can also download a free copy of the CCTV petition to collect more signatures.
If you live outside of Europe, please be aware that our petition and email action have been limited to European citizens, as this is an issue which directly affects them. By making sure that only those affected can take action, we can ensure that politicians have no excuse to ignore this issue!
You can still help horses by sharing this information with any friends of relatives that you have in Europe and by supporting organisations working on similar issues where you are.
How the crisis has unfolded:
28 February: Our Chief Executive Roly Owers featured on Radio 5 Live, talking about what happens to racehorses at the end of their lives. Listen to the programme here.
24 February: The Sunday Telegraph features a story on the horses transported long distances across Europe to slaughter after accompanying World Horse Welfare on a field investigation in Poland and Hungary.
21 February: DEFRA agrees radical overhaul of Horse Passport system in light of horse meat crisis - read the story here.
18 February: The European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee will discuss horsemeat this evening. We’ve made sure that MEPs are aware of our views on the need for better labelling and traceability, and we'll be watching closely to see what is said. More than 1600 emails have now been sent to Commissioner Borg calling for an end to long-distance journeys to slaughter and labels that show where any horse meat came from: thank you if you have already contacted him, and if you have yet to send an email remember that you can do so here.
Our Chief Executive Roly Owers appeared on Sky News throughout Sunday, and we were also featured in The Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror.
14 February: Deputy Chief Executive Tony Tyler was on BBC Radio 4 Farming Today and BBC Radio Leeds, and we also got coverage today in the regional East Anglia titles.
13 February: EU Commissioner Borg gave a press statement on this crisis, which you can watch here. Sadly, there was no mention of the horse welfare aspect to this crisis. Please email him to remind him of this! World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers appeared in the Financial Times and Deputy Chief Executive Tony Tyler on PM.
12 February: Our campaign receives coverage in the Globe and Mail, through the press association and other regional papers.
11 February: In a statement to the House of Commons, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson confirmed that the Food Standards Agency would be carrying out further testing on food products this week, although he failed to address the problems caused by the loss of the National Equine Database. We will be monitoring the results carefully. We were featured across BBC regional radio, National Irish Radio and in the Daily Mirror.
10 February: Products recalled from French supermarkets. We were featured in the Observer, on Radio Five Live throughout the night on BBC 1 News and the BBC News channel.
9 February: It was confirmed that some products contained up to 100% horsemeat. We featured in the Guardian.
8 February: As more and more products were implicated, we released a statement on the huge welfare problems caused by the long-distance transportation of horses across Europe to slaughter. We asked supporters to email Commissioner Borg calling for action. We featured on Sky News and on Radio Five Live.
24 January: Britain’s other major horse charities got behind our CCTV petition and agreed a joint statement, showing that we stand together on this issue.
19 January: Sky News reported on the slaughterhouse abuse. We launched our petition calling for CCTV in British slaughterhouses taking horses.
16 January: It was revealed that some supermarket burgers contained horsemeat. Read our reaction here and media coverage on NBC News, The Daily Express and The Metro. We were also featured on regional radio.
10 January: Sky News showed World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers and Veterinary Consultant Keith Meldrum appalling footage (warning: contains images that some viewers may find distressing), collected by Hillside Animal Sanctuary, of horse abuse at the Red Lion Abattoir in Cheshire
