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'Handle with Care' Campaign -

Working to stop the inhumane transportation of live horses to slaughter.

EquiPortal interviewed 'Sofia Parente' WSPA's Programme Manager to get an insight into their 'Handle with Care Campaign':

1) How many horses get transported for slaughter each year?
Almost 100,000 horses are transported for slaughter every year into and between the European Union member states. The vast majority of these horses end up in Italian slaughterhouses.

2) Where do the horses come from?
The majority come from Eastern Europe, particularly from Poland and Romania, and a smaller number from Spain. They are a mix of working horses at the end of their working life, and animals specially raised for their meat.

It is vital to know that although there are European Regulations on the transport of horses and other animals, these regulations does not protect them - horses can still travel for days on end. Also, even these weak rules are often violated. The Handle with Care coalition followed some of these truck journeys from Spain to Italy and found horses with bad injuries and in a severe state of dehydration. Trucks were not fitted with individual partitions as they should according to the transport Regulation.
WSPA is calling for an end to these long journeys. Horses should be slaughtered humanely near to the point they are reared.

3) Do you manage to rescue any horses from slaughter?
WSPA’s priority is to the welfare of the horses during their long distance transport ordeal and not necessarily their rescue as such, our ultimate objective along with the Handle with Care Coalition is to make sure that horses and other animals do not suffer these unnecessarily long journeys in the future.

We are also working with organisations in Spain and Italy to help enforce the current rules, but most importantly, we support the reform of the current regulation, in the hope of putting an end to long distance journeys to the slaughterhouse.


In the last few months the Handle with Care got a lot of public and political attention in different all over the world and the long distance transport of animals for slaughter was the main focus. It is unfortunately a cruel practice that does not happens only in Europe. The first shipment of frozen lamb arrived in a good condition in London over 125 years ago from New Zealand, so there is no need for this unnecessary trade of live animals to be allowed to go on, given that the appropriate technology is available and transportation facilities are available. We believe that Europe should be an example for the world and end this practice.

There is a good opportunity to make your voice heard this Autumn because the European Commission is looking into the rules for transporting animals in Europe.

Everybody can help by supporting WSPA’s letter to the President of the European Commission asking for an end to these long journeys.
Just go to http://www.handlewithcare.tv/uk/*∞* and click on 'Take Action' and keep in touch with the campaign.