Horses rescued from 'living nightmare' were on way to slaughter in Europe, Norfolk charity says

  • ITV News Anglia's Matthew Hudson reports on the horses' horrific ordeal

A charity is calling for tighter controls on animal exports after rescuing 26 horses and ponies destined for a slaughterhouse in Europe.

Most of the animals are recovering at a refuge in Norfolk after they were intercepted on an over-loaded transporter at the port of Dover.

World Horse Welfare, based at Snetterton in Norfolk, said the group contained five pregnant mares and several young horses who had only recently been taken from their mothers.

The charity said one older mare with severe arthritis had to be put down because she had suffered too much.

Border staff at the port acted after seeing too many animals crammed into a transporter that was too small.

They also found that paperwork was missing.The horses' journey began in Ireland, and they were bound for the Netherlands before being sent elsewhere in Europe.

World Horse Rescue said it was in no doubt that the animals had been destined for slaughter in Europe. Credit: ITV News Anglia

The Norfolk-based charity has little doubt what their fate would have been.Zoe Williamson said: "A lot of the evidence, and we've been looking into this probably for the past 15 years or so, is that these horses would mostly likely end up going to slaughter - given the ages of the horses and the conditions of the horses."

The charity said some of the horse and ponies were probably much-loved family pets, sold with the best of intentions, which ended up in a "living nightmare".  

The rescued horses are settling into their new home at Snetterton. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Supervisor Lorraine Holmes said the horses were beginning to recover from their ordeal at the animal shelter.

"They're doing fantastic," she said.

"They're coming out of their little shells. You can see their different characters coming out.

"The youngsters are still really frightened, but slowly but surely, we will work our way through them and start handling them, and hopefully get them ready to be re-homed one day."

World Horse Welfare has launched an appeal to help pay for the horses' upkeep while they wait to find them new homes and a happy ending.

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