New rule will protect all British racehorses after shock report revealed 4,000 thoroughbreds have been slaughtered in abattoirs since 2019
- All racehorses in Britain will be signed out of the human food chain from 2022
- Move follows BBC Panorama programme called The Dark Side Of Horse Racing
- 4,000 former racehorses had been slaughtered in Britain and Ireland since 2019
The BHA has amended its rules so that all racehorses entered to run in Britain must be signed out of the human food chain from January.
No entry for any horse will be accepted unless it is declared as not intended for human consumption.
The rule change, which could be extended to all international runners, comes after a BBC Panorama programme called The Dark Side Of Horse Racing revealed in July that 4,000 former racehorses had been slaughtered in Britain and Ireland since the start of 2019.
Gordon Elliott was banned from racing after he was photographed sitting on a dead horse
The programme focussed heavily on the Irish racing industry and its links to the abattoir.
Unsurprisingly highlighted was trainer Gordon Elliott, given the bad publicity he garnered for the sport when a picture of him sitting smiling on a dead horse on his gallops earned him a six month suspension in March.
The programme highlighted three horses once trained by Elliott which ended up at the abattoir – High Expectations, Kiss Me Kayf and Vyta Du Roc.
Elliott told the programme that ‘None of those animals were sent by me to the abattoir’ and added that the horses had retired from racing due to injury and had no longer been under his care or ownership.
Two of the horses, High Expectations and Kiss Me Kayf, had been sent to a horse dealer ‘to be rehomed if possible, and if not, to be humanely euthanised in line with the regulations.’
