Reports of horses being slaughtered illegally have given rise to concerns meat could be reaching Maltese consumers via the black market, according to law enforcement and Veterinary Department sources.

The sources told the Times of Malta the police had been tipped off about the illegal activity possibly taking place at a secluded farm in the outskirts of Siġġiewi. The information supplied indicated that retired race horses were being illegally slaughtered and the meat then sold for consumption.

The matter was first flagged by Nationalist MP Mario Galea who last week blew the whistle on a number of suspected animal rights abuses, including the possible return of dog fighting.

The sources noted that the illegal slaughter of animals raised a series of health concerns, not only because of the questionable hygiene standards during the killing process but also because of the fact that race horses were usually administered performance-enhancing drugs. 

In 2010, officers found a workshop which had been modified to also operate as an illegal abbatoir.In 2010, officers found a workshop which had been modified to also operate as an illegal abbatoir.

The information furnished, the sources continued, indicated that horses could have been killed through asphyxiation, placing a bin bag over their heads and fastening it with a rope at the neck. 

“This is particularly cruel because the animal will suffer for several minutes before eventually dying a painful death,” they pointed out. In the public abattoir, animals are first stunned before they are killed in the most humane way possible. 

Horses could have been killed through asphyxiation, placing a bin bag over their heads and fastening it with a rope at the neck

Sources close to the Veterinary Department said that if the asphyxiation reports turned out to be true, it would probably be because this would make it look as though the animals had died of natural causes. 

Only about a dozen horses were usually legally slaughtered for their meat in Malta every year, the same sources noted. Still, horse meat available on the market was far bigger than what one would expect from 12 animals and while the bulk was likely imported and then marketed as being local produce, the sources would not rule out that illegally-slaughtered animals were being sold to local consumers.

This is not the first time that the authorities are looking into the practice of illegal animal slaughter. About 10 years ago, an ‘abattoir’ operating illegally had been traced in the Swieqi valley when three men had been caught red-handed slitting the throat of a sheep.

The floor of the Swieqi ‘abattoir’ was covered in blood, a clear indication that several animals had been killed there, the sources recalled.

In 2009, police had raided an illegal slaughterhouse in Swieqi. Photo: Matthew MirabelliIn 2009, police had raided an illegal slaughterhouse in Swieqi. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Subsequently, animal welfare officers had apprehended two other men who they believed had turned up to buy meat hanging in a non-refrigerated room in the abandoned farm-turned-‘abattoir’.

Officers involved in the investigation had found the testicles of a horse on the ground and a mound of butchered animal heads and limbs covered in manure were discovered in a nearby field.

An old donkey, three horses, four goats and a sheep grazing in a field were believed to have been rescued from the butcher’s block thanks to the police raid.

Tools used to slaughter animals and animal tags that abattoirs display to ensure meat traceability were also found. The police had been monitoring activities at the old farm following complaints that illegal dog fighting could be going on there.

Three men had eventually been found guilty of animal cruelty and breaching health regulations by selling meat not slaughtered under monitored sanitary conditions.

One year later, officers had come across nine tanks filled with pigs' heads in a workshop that had been modified into a makeshift abbatoir in Qormi.

Animal welfare officers also found slaughtering knives and freezers packed with meat, as well as several live animals including 50 sheep, 20 goats, several chickens and ducks.

The owner was arrested and charged with animal cruelty.  

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