euthanasia or slaughter?

​I agree wholeheartedly with Lee Mottershead that racehorses should not be regarded or classified as ‘livestock’. In his column in today’s Racing Post he gives a clear humanitarian approach to what becomes of a horse at the end of its life. As he writes, when a horse is put to sleep at home or on the racecourse it is euthanised, when it occurs at an abattoir it is slaughtered. And yes, to follow the dictum of dignity and respect from birth to death a racehorse should never be sent to a slaughterhouse.
Vets could be of assistance here. It costs an owner money to have a horse put-down by needle, whereas the carcass of a horse is worth money to the owner if it is to go into the food-chain. If vets were to charge only a nominal fee for euthanising a horse the ratio between the veterinary fee and a cheque from the abattoir would be greatly reduced.
Yet still there is a problem to be overcome. A horse euthanised by needle and humane killer is unfit for the food-chain, so what happens to its carcass? Let me say, and here I have personal experience, a racehorse should not, if possible, be euthanised in a stable as it can be a bloody business removing its body. A dead horse is a magnitude harder to move than a life horse. To remove the dead horse from the stable to the knacker-wagon is a choice between dragging it through the doorway or, and here is where my experience comes into the narrative, if the horse has died in a stable without easy access for the lorry in which the body is to taken away, whoever is tasked with removing the carcass may have no choice but to cut-up the body.
Also, what do you do with the dead animal if it cannot be used as food? If euthanised by needle, perhaps the local hunt will not want it to feed its hounds. Even if a humane gun is used, the vet will often sedate the horse before injecting it. When a domestic pet is put to sleep sedation is used before the lethal injection is administered.
I wrote to Aintree racecourse many moons ago suggesting they could create an equine cemetery in the centre of the course for easy and respectful disposal of any horse killed during the Grand National and was told that because of water levels at Aintree the local council authority would not allow the burial horses on site.
This is another problem for a trainer or owner with a dead horse to dispose of. It takes a big whole to take the body of a horse, a hole that needs a J.C.B. to both dig and fill-in. How many trainers have the acreage to create an equine cemetery?
There are ways around this problem, all costing money, of course. Newmarket, Lambourne, Malton, all the racing centres, could each create an equine cemetery, with plaques naming the horses buried beneath. Such places, if properly maintained and landscaped, could become memorial gardens, an attraction for holiday-makers and racing enthusiasts. Again, it would cost money for owners and trainers to transport the carcasses to these places, though perhaps grants could be given as equine cemeteries would demonstrate to the public that there is a caring attitude within the sport towards the horses that are the pivot of all our lives.
Other than equine cemeteries, I believe the only other viable answer is a B.H.A. approved humane abattoir used only for racehorses and those used for other competitive equine disciplines, with strict working guidelines, frequent inspections and with all profits going to equine charities.
Racehorses deserve respect from their first breath to their last. Every horse will die; some tragically, some will lay down and die peacefully, some, due to infirmity or illness, the owner or trainer will have to make that sad decision for them. Denman had to be euthanised. As did Kauto Star. As did Red Rum. Desert Orchid chose his own moment. Persian Punch suffered a heart attack after a race. One day someone might have to make a decision about Frankel, as Coolmore had to do with Galileo.
But at that moment of last breath, every horse, the, kindest, the unreliable, loyalist, the biters and kickers, deserve the same respect as the great horses. Lee Mottershead is 100% correct – no racehorse should be slaughtered and no owner should get his last pound of flesh out of a horse by sending it to a slaughterhouse. It’s not on, it’s got to stop and the B.H.A. should legislate within the rules of racing to put an end to the unsavoury and undefendable practice.