French Slaughterhouse Closes Amid Animal Cruelty Allegations

In an unprecedented move in a country known for its hippophagia, public pressure led to a slaughterhouse’s closure.
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In an unprecedented move in a country known for its hippophagia culture, public pressure has led to the closure of a French slaughterhouse.

Video footage from inside the slaughterhouse in Alès, in southeastern France, showed scenes of “blatant cruelty,” an animal rights association said. The slaughterhouse processed about 3,000 horses per year, in addition to cattle, sheep, and pigs.

“We see horses refusing to enter the stun area, getting hit with sticks to go in, knocking themselves against the door of the stunning room as it closes on them,” said Brigitte Gothière, president of the association L214 Éthique & Animaux in Lyon, France. The association made video compilations from Alès for scenes of each species, including horses, and released them for public viewing.

Within hours of the video releases last week, Max Roustan, the mayor of Alès, announced the closure of the municipal slaughterhouse. Several weeks earlier following a standard national veterinary inspection, the slaughterhouse had received a warning that its procedures needed to be improved. State services had been scheduled to return to the slaughterhouse in the coming weeks to verify that “non-conforming professional practices” had ceased

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Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

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