Investigation into smuggled horses highlights abhorrent exploitation

For almost a century, our charity has been campaigning for policies and legislation to protect horses, and now we are warning that last year’s ban on the live export of horses from Great Britain for fattening and slaughter urgently needs to be followed up with secondary legislation – underpinned by a comprehensive and fully digitalised ID and traceability for all equines across Europe – to stop the illegal trade in horses.

Citing another recent case of horses being smuggled from Ireland across Britain to the continent, our charity has researched the background of the eight horses that have come into our care, alongside those of five Irish Thoroughbreds that sadly had to be put to sleep on welfare grounds, and put together a timeline of events to help identify the gaps illegal traders in horses are exploiting.

From the evidence that has come to light, we can report that the registered transporter was stopped at Dover port on 6 December 2024 with twenty horses on board. Seven were Irish Thoroughbreds, two of whom were registered racehorses with one, The Expert, having been raced at Dundalk Races at 4pm on Wednesday 4 December, just 24 hours prior to the lorry on which he was discovered leaving Ireland. The second, Superdermo, had last raced in August 2024 with two subsequent point-to-point races in October and November. Another of the Thoroughbreds who has joined The Expert at our Norfolk rescue and rehoming centre, appears not to have a microchip despite having a passport. The support of both of these former Irish racehorses is being funded from British racing’s Retraining of Racehorses charity.

And one of the non-Thoroughbreds in the group has two microchips, something we know can occur when a horse is deliberately re-identified to hide their background and increase their value.

With the 2024 RTÉ documentary, ‘RTÉ Investigates: Horses – Making a Killing’, exposing Irish racehorses being moved illegally across borders to slaughter, the case of The Expert, Surperdermo and the other Irish Thoroughbreds onboard the vehicle demonstrates yet again that urgent action is needed to ensure sport horses are protected throughout their lifetime.

Our Chief Executive, Roly Owers, said:

“Just a day after racing in Ireland, The Expert found himself being exported to mainland Europe on a transporter full of diseased and suffering horses, some of whom undoubtedly would have ended their journey at a European slaughterhouse.”

“Sadly, what this most recent case highlights is that it is all too easy for once well cared for horses to be exploited by those who only view them as commodities. Those involved in the trade know they can operate with impunity as a result of a flawed system. Horses crossing borders with different jurisdictions and identification policies, and paper-based ID the mainstay for most, simply isn’t good enough to protect these vulnerable animals. For the evidence to be robust and those responsible held accountable, we urgently need a centralised and fully digitalised ID and traceability system across the UK and EU states.”

Many sport and racehorses are transported for training or competition in good conditions that protect their health and welfare, but we have evidence that some entering or leaving Britain are not compliant with the high health conditions they are supposed to meet. While horses who are trained in Britain are required to be permanently signed out of the food chain prior to racing, no such restriction exists in other European countries. However, any racehorse who never enters, or leaves competition at the end of their career, is not as traceable. They can be easily passed from owner to owner and in the case of smuggling, may be exported for slaughter while not being declared as such and if needed be fraudulently reidentified to make them appear eligible for the food chain.

Not only were the horses onboard suffering as a result of being transported long distances when they were unfit for their intended journey, there was also disease amongst the group. Two of the Irish Thoroughbreds had pneumonia. and a number of them were also suffering from the highly contagious and debilitating bacterial infection strangles. We believe that some of the horses onboard the transporter were being moved legitimately as a cover for the illegal movements, which further highlights the biosecurity risks associated with horse smuggling.

Explaining why we believe the transport was illegal, Roly said.

“Although it appears that the horses being transported had the correct paperwork, our understanding of the smuggling trade enabled us to recognise quite quickly that this shipment had the hallmarks of horse smuggling, and that at least some of these horses were likely going to slaughter which means their paperwork would have been fraudulent.”

An Intra Trade Animal Health Certificate (ITAHC) allows horses to be moved to and from the island of Ireland (the Republic and Northern Ireland), via Great Britain, to EU Member States without an inspection at a Border Control Post when they re-enter the EU. Despite being one of the most frequently moved animals, the majority of horses have no individual traceability posing a significant biosecurity risk to the UK’s national herd.

Commenting on the biosecurity risk of horse smuggling, Roly said:

“Two lorries of smuggled horses in just over 12 months, both carrying infectious disease: Equine Influenza in one and strangles in the other, with at least some of the horses likely on their way to slaughter on the continent. Given that horses aren’t traceable and from what we know about the last case of smuggled horses we rescued, there are plenty of opportunities for those involved in this illegal trade to drop horses off or pick them up at any point on their journey.

“These are just the two shipments that the Animal Plant and Health Agency were able to stop, who knows how many go undetected? It is clear how urgently the government must put the right enforcement measures in place to ensure the ban on live export for slaughter makes a difference to protect horses and stop horse smuggling.

“Both cases of smuggled horses that we have brought into our care have led to our Norfolk Centre experiencing significant disruption as a result of the equine diseases they have brought with them.”

We have set up a campaign to #StopHorseSmuggling with a pledge for anyone wishing to support us in asking UK decision makers to act now. Take the pledge today.