It points to the fact that no attention is paid to the animals’ welfare at all and practices are used which are outlawed in the EU and yet this meat ends up on our supermarket shelves.

In light of the European Commission expert meeting in May and conference in November which will look at the state of play in the horse and equine sector, this investigation is another example that the equine sector needs stronger regulation at EU level to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare as well as animal and public health.

This investigation was carried out by animal protection organisations GAIA (Belgium), Tierschutzbund Zurich (Switzerland), Animals Angels (USA), Eyes on Animals (Netherlands) and L214 (France) between March 2012 and January 2014.