Could creating a UK market for horsemeat be the solution to the increasing number of equine welfare cases? This was the question posed by Princess Anne yesterday at World Horse Welfare’s annual conference. The former Olympic eventer argued that creating a horsemeat market, and thereby adding a financial value to many horses, would most likely improve the level of care that they currently receive.
Unsurprisingly, Princess Anne’s comments have upset certain groups such as the RSPCA and Peta, with the RSPCA saying in a statement that ‘the killing of horses for meat is an emotive subject, as many see them as companion animals rather than a food source, a sentiment the RSPCA has sympathy with.’
But many horse rescue charities have agreed with Anne, including Jenny MacGregor of the Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies – who has received an MBE for her services to equine welfare – and who told the BBC that ‘Princess Anne has come up with something practical which, in the long run, will be of great value’.
As I wrote earlier this year, there’s nothing wrong, in theory, with eating horsemeat. The problems that arose during the horsemeat scandal were, as Anne pointed out, that food was ‘improperly marked’, and that it was almost impossible to trace the source of the horsemeat.
The problem of irresponsible horse breeding is one that both the British Horse Society and World Horse Welfare have tried to tackle through various campaigns. But over the last few years, horse charities have been reporting a steadily increasing number of welfare cases and reports of abandoned horses. This August, for example, the British Horse Society received twice as many welfare calls as in August 2012. Many charities are unable to cope with the sheer number of horses, and horse sellers have also seen a drastic reduction in the number of people buying horses.
This is the situation even with breeds such as the Exmoor, an endangered breed with just 350 breeding Exmoor mares in existence. There are therefore fewer breeding Exmoors in the world than there are pandas. But, even so, homes can’t be found for many of them, meaning that even those who are keen to support the breed are having trouble meeting the costs.
Perhaps it would be better for these ponies if they were an ingredient in Tesco burgers or Findus lasagne – but, of course, included on the list of ingredients. The majority of Britons find the idea of eating horsemeat gruesome, but there’s no reason why a horse should be any less edible than any other herbivore and, as Anne pointed out, they would be classed as a delicacy in France.
Indeed, one member of the Exmoor Pony Society got into trouble earlier this year when a newspaper reported that she had supplied an Exmoor foal that had broken its leg to be eaten at a dinner party.
At least if ponies were being kept for their meat, it might put a semi-decent price tag on their head, and help to ensure that they weren’t abandoned on dual carriageways, left wandering the roads or dumped in canals.
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