Irish thoroughbreds among 20 'sick and weak' horses found crammed in lorry

WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: The horses were en way to Europe wherever it was suspected they were heading for slaughter contempt a prohibition connected unrecorded exports erstwhile they were stopped astatine Dover

Irish thoroughbreds person been recovered among a shipment of horses travelling to Europe, galore of which were excessively sick and anemic to travel.

They were among a radical of 20 who were crammed into a lorry which was intercepted astatine Dover pursuing the find of a foal connected the level which was incapable to get backmost connected its feet.

After their wellness and payment was assessed astatine a holding facility, 5 of the 7 thoroughbreds had to beryllium enactment down.

The incidental has been highlighted by the equine foundation World Horse Welfare, which past twelvemonth rescued 26 horses from being fraudulently transported retired of the UK successful a akin case.

The foundation said it suspects immoderate of the horses were being smuggled for fattening and past slaughter contempt a prohibition connected unrecorded exports being successful spot since May 2024.

World Horse Welfare Field Officer Rebecca Carter said: “At the holding installation I was faced with a heart-breaking scene. The equines were truthful inactive and quiescent and appeared shell-shocked from their ordeal.

“A fig of the horses were underweight and had Strangles, a highly contagious bacterial and perchance fatal corruption – with the infected horses suffering from achy abscesses and fever. Two besides had pneumonia, and immoderate were suffering from tegument conditions and assorted different wellness issues.

“There were 3 unhandled foals who were matted with faeces arsenic cipher could get clasp of them to cleanable them up. They were wholly terrified and erstwhile I approached them, they buried their heads into each different and huddled unneurotic successful a country of the stable.

“Overall, it was an incredibly bittersweet show to spot this precise mixed radical of horses, immoderate of which were afloat clipped and shod, truthful antecedently good cared for, present looking bewildered, mediocre and depressed, with vacant expressions.”

She added: “It’s not conscionable the wellness of these horses which was enactment astatine risk, there’s a bigger contented present successful that these horses were carrying highly contagious diseases and truthful a biosecurity menace to each those they came successful interaction with.”

The Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) assisted World Horse Welfare successful providing enactment and funds to screen the costs associated with the 2 surviving Irish Thoroughbreds.

Seven of the 20 horses, which were successful amended health, were claimed by their owners.

The remaining 8 were abandoned – including a large mare and the terrified foals - and taken to the World Horse Welfare’s Rescue and Rehoming Centre successful Norfolk.

World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers said: “It is shocking to person been progressive successful different high-profile rescue of equines astatine Dover, galore of whom were precise apt being exported for slaughter.

“We marque nary apology for sounding similar a breached record, and beauteous overmuch connected the 12th day of the horsemeat scandal, without a proper, robust integer equine recognition and traceability strategy successful the UK and crossed Europe, the payment of equines being transported volition ne'er beryllium afloat protected.

“We judge that horses are regularly being transported retired of the UK illegally and until specified a strategy is successful place, horses volition proceed to beryllium exploited for profit.”

World Horse Welfare is accepting donations via the ‘Trafficked 20’ Appeal.