A new animal cruelty controversy shook Ireland, the land of horses. After RTÉ, Ireland's public television, aired a documentary, the government promised to investigate the serious abuse of horses, particularly at a slaughterhouse where horses were involved in horse racing. These revelations also raise concerns about food safety.
With our correspondent in Dublin, Clemens Pennard
The horses were repeatedly hit on the head and whipped. Another, too weak to stand, is pushed with a pitchfork before finally collapsing. These are some of the abuses revealed by RTÉ, where hidden cameras filmed a shed in Kildare, west of Dublin, where horses were kept before being sent to Ireland's only licensed equine abattoir.
Shannonside Foods, which runs the abattoir, denied the allegations in a statement.
Scenes « Horrible and unacceptable »
Show Staff are shown using fake identification chips and replacing distinctive white spots on horses with paint. The visuals are described as ” Terrible and unacceptable » Thursday Irish Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.
The documentary, broadcast this Wednesday June 12, also looks at European criminal networks that conceal the identities of horses declared unfit for human consumption.
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