World Horse Welfare calls on UK Government to deliver promised live export ban
Equine welfare charity World Horse Welfare is urging the UK Government to deliver on its promised enforcement measures two years after the introduction of the ban on live exports for slaughter.The charitys plea comes after a recent Europol operation exposed suspected horse trafficking networks across Europe.The Europol operation involved 1,000 horses and 200 officials across four countries.Investigators suspect the networks falsified documents and concealed horses identities to enable them to be sold under false pretences or be slaughtered for the human food chain. The Dover 26 and Trafficked 20 rescue cases have previously highlighted the suffering caused to horses by smuggling. More action requiredThe ban on live export for slaughter was mentioned in the Governments Animal Welfare Strategy which was announced in 2025, but World Horse Welfare says little progress has been made towards delivering the measures needed to enforce it.An agreement is currently being negotiated with the EU which involves making trade and movement of animals easier. The ban forms part of these negotiations and the UK Government has said that no action will be taken until this agreement is finalised.World Horse Welfare has been calling upon the government to establish a robust digital equine identification and traceability scheme, which would help to combat illegal horse smuggling by making it far harder to forge documents, disguise horses origins or conceal their movement histories, for a number of years. DismayedOnce again, we have more evidence that the horse meat scandal never really ended, said Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare.Horses continue to enter the food chain through criminal networks. World Horse Welfare is encouraged that coordinated action has been taken across several EU member states to confront the scourge of horse smuggling by one criminal network.However, we are dismayed that UK authorities do not appear to have chosen to take part in this operation, given how the UK land bridge is being exploited to perpetuate this trade. More than two years later, we have yet to see the promised legislation that would actually make the 2024 ban on live exports enforceable for horses.We recognise the potential implications of the current EU negotiations, but this should not be used as an excuse for inaction on enforcing the ban on live export. If anything, it should have ramped up the urgency to participate in the Europol investigation. In our view, horses are being let down by the lack of enforcement and action must be taken urgently to remedy that.The Europol operation shows that horse smuggling remains a significant and organised criminal enterprise across Europe. Better identification, stronger intelligence-sharing and effective enforcement are essential if we are to protect horses from exploitation and suffering.Image World Horse Welfare.Related contentDover 26 horses rescued from being smuggled last year are seeking new homesLatest vet advice about highly contagious stranglesUK bans live export of horses for slaughterThe post World Horse Welfare calls on UK Government to deliver promised live export ban appeared first on Your Horse.
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