Irish thoroughbreds among 20 'sick and weak' horses found crammed in lorry Irish thoroughbreds have been found among a shipment of horses travelling to Europe, many of which were too sick and weak to travel.
The incident has been highlighted by the equine charity World Horse Welfare, which last year rescued 26 horses from being fraudulently transported out of the UK in a similar case.
“We make no apology for sounding like a broken record, and pretty much on the 12th anniversary of the horsemeat scandal, without a proper, robust digital equine identification and traceability system in the UK and across Europe, the welfare of equines being transported will never be fully protected.
She added: “It’s not just the health of these horses which was put at risk, there’s a bigger issue here in that these horses were carrying highly contagious diseases and therefore a biosecurity threat to all those they came in contact with.”.
World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers said: “It is shocking to have been involved in another high-profile rescue of equines at Dover, many of whom were very likely being exported for slaughter.
