MORE than 35,000 people have signed an online petition to stop horse “abuse” at a Laverton knackery accused of inhumane treatment of animals.
As reported by the Weekly, workers at the Leakes Road yard were secretly filmed by the Coalition for Protection of Racehorses during Melbourne Cup week.
The footage shows horses being hit in the face and one horse being shot and dragged along the ground while apparently still alive, before being shot again and having its neck slit.
A Facebook petition addressed to the Department of Primary Industries, PrimeSafe Victoria and RSPCA calls for authorities to take “immediate and definitive action” to stop practices in the footage that appears to show:
■ One horse being hit in the head more than 60 times
■ An ex-racehorse being shot before apparently breaking her neck falling onto a metal gate. A worker then slits her throat
■ Horses’ tails being cut off while they appear to be alive
■ A sick horse being shot in front of more than 20 other horses in a paddock. The shot horse is dragged about 60 metres across gravel and concrete while apparently still alive. He is again shot before his throat is cut
A worker at the knackery, who asked not to be named, said he believed the footage had been doctored to make it seem like the horse was belted repeatedly.
“Besides, all we were using was a poly pipe to try and get the horse to back up,” he said.
He said PrimeSafe had already probed the knackery’s practices since the footage was made public.
PrimeSafe chief executive Brian Casey said the investigation began in December, following an official complaint by Animals Australia that alleged animal cruelty, several breaches of hygiene, welfare and meat industry laws.
Because the complaint involved animal cruelty, an investigation was also launched by RSPCA, which is continuing.
“What we’re doing now is waiting for the outcome of the RSPCA investigation to see if any information is relevant to us,” Mr Casey said.
