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Around 100,000 horses currently travel long distances to slaughter in Europe; this number has reduced from 165,000 in 2001.

A long distance journey is defined as a journey that exceeds eight hours. However, in reality the majority of these journeys take a minimum of two or three days, if not longer.

Italy is the largest importer of horses for slaughter for human consumption, with 84% travelling there. Source countries include: Poland, Romania, Spain (the three biggest exporters) as well as Lithuania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia, the Ukraine and other countries.

Current EU law states that all horses travelling long distances to slaughter must be separated during the journey by individual partitions. In August 2007, eight months after the implementation of the law, World Horse Welfare recorded lorries moving horses in groups of seven or eight; that’s a minimum of 26 horses in a lorry that should only carry 16. Other European welfare organisations have also reported similar breaches of the Regulation since January 2007.

Sources suggest that 40% of lorries carrying horses to slaughter do not stop at Control Posts where the horses are supposed to be unloaded, rested for 24 hours and given food and water after 24 hours of travelling.

Temperatures on the lorry can legally reach 35°C, but these regularly exceed 40°C and can plummet many degrees below zero. Typically, these horses, which are generally not used to being transported at all under any conditions, suffer from extreme exhaustion, thirst and serious injuries.

Legally, horses should be provided with food and water after eight hours of travelling. However, World Horse Welfare and other welfare organisations have concrete evidence that this very rarely takes place.

The present trade is inhumane and unnecessary. It only continues because lack of enforcement of the EU Regulation ensures its profitability