Say NO to the sale of horse meat for human consumption in Australia Campaign update

Currently we are organising another demonstration in Perth and will release details once they have been confirmed. Back in July we started up an online petition which has close to 5000 signatures, however these online petitions are not reputable or considered by the government when trying to amend laws or legislation so we are currently in the process of creating a petition that can be printed out, signed and sent back to us. If you are able to print off this petition, take it to your place of work, pony clubs or other areas to have it signed and then sent back to us to present to the government please email me urgently.

As most of you already know, we will not give up this fight until the green light to sell horse meat for human consumption is over turned. There are too many inconsistencies within the Western Australian Government in regards to how quickly this was passed and approved and there are too many inconsistencies with how and where these horses are being slaughtered, the process involved and whether or not it’s being monitored by the DPI and the process humane.

The horse slaughter industry in Australia is very quiet and relatively unregulated. The RSPCA have a policy in regards to humane killing which states “An animal must be either killed instantly or instantaneously rendered insensible to pain until death supervenes” however, we have a USA study that was conducted which proves that the captive bolt is an inhumane process for killing horses due to the structure of their skull. The captive bolt does not kill instantly or instantaneously and cause the horse extreme pain before death. I have been informed by the Western Australia Government that they will not take into consideration the USA study because it was not conducted on Australian soil even though the process is exactly the same. The RSPCA have another policy which states “Handling of animals prior to killing must also be humane and as stress-free as possible” however, these animals are subject to sometimes long interstate transporting to one of the two licensed abattoirs in Australia who kill horses for human consumption without rest, food or water, not to mention the state of the horses in sale yards, the transportation issues and treatment in knackery’s of horses killed for pet food (but this is a different issue). In Western Australia there is no licensed abattoir for slaughtering horses for human consumption and no details have been confirmed on where these animals are being killed, however I have been informed that they are being killed in a knackery licensed to slaughter for pet food but I have been unable to confirm this.

At present we are not trying to have horse slaughter banned completely, there are many more issues that need to be addressed before that could ever happen, such as over breeding etc. We are trying to clean up an unregulated industry that has no concern for the welfare of these animals, and in most cases violates the Animal Welfare Act (or its equivalent), but our first step is to have this green light to sell horse meat for human consumption in Australia over turned. We need to be the voice for the horses that have no voice.

Please email me if you can help by printing off our petition, having it signed and sending it back. saveahorseqld@yahoo.com.au

Or if you are in Perth please come along to our next demonstration, it only takes a few hours to make a difference.

Kindest Regards,
Amanda Vella