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February 11, 2008
"Shock video" exposes Italy's horse-meat trade
Animal-rights activists are distributing a video to denounce what they say is the cruelty with which tens of thousands of horses are brought to Italy each year where they are slaughtered for their meat.
The video documents truck journeys - lasting up to 46 hours - of groups of horses from Spain to Italy in which the animals are crammed together, said LAV which posted the footage on its web site on Tuesday.
"The horses are transported on the trucks without rest, without adequate food or water, standing in their own excrement in temperatures that in summer rise above 40 degrees Celsius," said LAV which is adhering to a global campaign to end the transportation of animals over long distances for slaughter.
The campaign is led by coalition of leading animal welfare groups, Handle With Care, which produced the video titled Spain to Italy.
"The transport of refrigerated meat has existed for over 125 years, yet millions of horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and goats suffer and die each year during transport to destinations where they slaughtered for (human) consumption which is not necessary," LAV representative Roberto Bennati said...
According to LAV, Italy holds the "negative" record for the highest consumption of equine or horse meat in Europe with many of the animals destined for the abattoir imported from Spain and Eastern Europe - mainly Lithuania, Romania and Poland.
The Italian market - equine meat is highly regarded in southern regions such as Puglia - accounts for 84 per cent of all horses transported live across Europe for slaughter.
In 2006, 80,000 of the around 170,000 horses slaughtered in Italy were imported.
Unhealthy conditions in which animals are transported can also have negative repercussions on humans, as weak, filthy animals are more likely to become ill and to spread diseases, LAV said.
Posted by sue at February 11, 2008 10:40 AM