Let Them Eat Horse?

Perhaps we should reconsider eating horse meat if it might help the plight of neglected equines, suggested Britain’s Princess Anne at the annual conference of the World Horse Welfare charity. Top: New Zealand Herald

The former eventing champ is president of the organization, which met in London this week.

The princess was speaking in reaction to the horse meat scandal that caused a collective culinary cringe across the U.K. last winter when it was revealed that horse was an unlabeled ingredient in products sold across a host of British supermarket chains. The horses came from countries such as Romania, where they were cruelly treated before being shipped to Britain as beef, according to the Daily Mail.

[bbc/reuters]

If people knew they could sell their horses for meat, perhaps they’d treat them better, she suggested. “Our attitudes to the horsemeat trade may have to change” she said, because those in the trade “value their horses and look after them well” and therefore “should we be considering a real market for horse meat and would that reduce the number of welfare case?”

The Telegraph broadcast her comments.

British rescue centers have seen a rise of up to 40 percent in admissions since the horse meat scandal, according to the paper.

Princess Anne (mother of Olympic eventer Zara Phillips) is very active in horse welfare advocacy on an international and personal level. Last month, on a tour of a horse rescue, she adopted a 14-year-old mare named Annie, who now helps her herd sheep and keep an eye on her Gloucestershire estate.

The Princess Royal, back in the ’70s

[ourtimes]

What do you think, Horse Nation? Weigh in via the comments section below.

———–

MORE PLEASE! If you liked this post, check out…