Ban-live-exports-campaign-thank-you-page

Ban live exports to slaughter

We need your help to stop this trade once and for all.

We need your help to stop this trade once and for all.

Update: Thank you to everyone that took our action. We are delighted that the proposed Bill to ban live exports to slaughter from Great Britain has passed all its stages in the House of Commons and has now moved into the House of Lords. We have closed this action and will keep you updated on the Bill’s progress. It is only with your support that we can ensure laws are passed that better protect our horses and ponies.


Ever since our founder, Ada Cole, stood on the docks and witnessed the cruel and brutal treatment of work weary horses being exported from British shores to slaughter abroad, we have been campaigning to stop this trade. Laws have been passed that made the live export of horses to slaughter much more challenging, but none made it illegal. 

We were delighted when the current UK Government made it a manifesto commitment to finally ban live exports of animals for slaughter and fattening. HOWEVER, the promised legislation has yet to make it into law and the Kept Animals Bill, which would have introduced a ban, was dropped. Your help is needed to ensure the Bill passes quickly through Parliament and a ban is introduced before the UK General Election.

While no horse, pony or donkey has officially been declared as being exported for slaughter in recent years, we know there is a trade in equines being smuggled out of the country – often in poor welfare conditions and on fraudulent passports to ensure that all could go to slaughter. Some of these vulnerable animals will end their lives in a slaughterhouse, despite being signed out of the food chain on their official passports. These horses may move directly to slaughter, be passed via another dealer known to sell to the slaughterhouse, or must endure the indignity of standing for hours at a European market before being sold for meat.

These are not just horses that have been bred for this trade. Any horse can end up being exported to slaughter, from outgrown children’s ponies through to ex-sports horses. Sold with the best of intentions and in the belief that they could never end their lives in a slaughterhouse.  

A ban on live exports of horses to slaughter will make this trade illegal, allowing for stronger measures to be put in place to help ensure the individuals involved are identified and action can be taken to stop them.  With time running out, your support is urgently needed to ask your MP to support the Animal Welfare (Live Exports) Bill and ensure this trade is ended once and for all.

You can find further information on World Horse Welfare’s position on horse smuggling here.

Find out about our Ride to Parliament to raise awareness of this horrific trade here.

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