Beef burgers sold by leading supermarkets contain almost 30 per cent horse meat

Each year in the UK alone, approximately 1,000 million animals are farmed and killed for food – around 3 million of that number are cows. Animal Aid started to film secretly inside Britain’s slaughterhouses in January 2009. To date, we have filmed inside nine randomly chosen slaughterhouses and found evidence of cruelty and lawbreaking in eight of them. The problems are serious and widespread. Our films reveal animals being kicked, slapped, stamped on, and picked up by fleeces and ears and thrown into stunning pens. We recorded animals being improperly stunned and going to the knife while still conscious.

In 2007, we were the first organisation to secretly film in an English horse abattoir. The footage we gathered showed the killing of a succession of apparently fit and healthy horses, including discarded children’s riding ponies and unprofitable race horses who were shot in the head with a rifle and then butchered for human consumption.

All animals, whether they are horses, cows, chickens, pigs or fish can feel pain and suffer. If you care about those horses who were killed for their meat, then please spare a thought for all those other animals, and make the compassionate decision. Adopt an animal-free diet.