Horse Meat Investigation & Meetings, Europe 1/3/12-1/8/12
Animals’ Angels went to Europe and met with veterinarians and other animal welfare organizations to discuss the issues involved with the horse meat imports from Canada and Mexico. Animals’ Angels believes that it is of
utmost importance to create more awareness among European consumers in
regards to where the horses meat is coming from, the cruelty involved in
this trade as well as the potential risk of drug residues. The meetings
went well and we are excited about the possibility of a campaign on
both sides of the Atlantic.
Additionally,
the investigators looked into pricing of horse meat at butcher shops
and the protection offered by the “Equine Passport”. While the ways to
obtain the passport are slightly different in the member states (http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/identification/equine/ms_information_en.htm),
all passports require the owner to fill in information if the horse can
later be slaughtered or not. This decision can’t be changed later, even
if the animal is sold. If the owner chooses that the horse can be
slaughtered, all medicine ever given to the horse has to be recorded in
the passport by the administering veterinarian. However, there is no
guarantee that the veterinarian really does that.
Once
a slaughter horse arrives at the plant, the passport is checked.
According to a veterinarian, who used to work at a horse slaughter
plant, he has witnessed horses arriving with a “no-slaughter” passport
and all of them were rejected. A violation could carry a fine of several
thousand Euros for both the plant and the shipper.
Prices for horse meat found at butcher shops were $17.80/lbs -$19.00/
lbs for the filet, $13.00/lbs-$16.00/lbs for a roast and
$10.00/lbs-$13.00/lbs for horse meat sausage.
