Welfare at slaughter

Horse slaughter is a subject that rightly raises significant concern and emotion, highlighting the close relationship many people have with horses and other equids. While the topic is challenging, it is essential to ensure that, when slaughter does take place, it is conducted according to the highest standards of welfare, care, and respect.

To help address this challenge we commissioned a major four year research programme in 2021, which focused on improving the welfare of equids at slaughter. The project “Equid Welfare at Slaughter: Ante-mortem assessment and the pathophysiology of slaughter and stunning methods’ was awarded to the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and is now complete.

Project overview

Despite ongoing efforts to protect equid welfare globally, there remain significant concerns around current slaughterhouse practices. It is estimated that around 5.5 million horses and two million donkeys are slaughtered annually around the world, but as this trade is largely unregulated on a global scale, the true number is likely to be much higher. Many slaughter procedures and methods used for equids have been adapted from systems originally developed for cattle and other high-throughput species – approaches that may not meet the unique needs of horses, donkeys, and mules.

Find out more about our position on welfare at slaughter.

This research initiative aimed to address these shortcomings by generating evidence-based, equid-specific guidance that promotes humane and welfare-focused slaughter practices around the world.

Key objectives

The research programme focused on four main objectives:

• Undertake a systematic review of current literature and existing evidence related to equid welfare at slaughter.
• Identify critical research gaps that may impact the welfare of equids during the slaughter process.
• Develop and carry out novel research to address these gaps and advance understanding in key areas.
• Produce practical guidance for improving equid welfare at slaughter, informed by new evidence and analysis.

Why this matters

Slaughterhouses are rarely designed with equids in mind. Globally, a wide variety of slaughter practices are in use, with little standardisation and varying degrees of welfare protection. Where laws do exist, enforcement is often lacking.

There is an urgent need to:

1. Assess the welfare implications of current stunning and slaughter methods.
2. Develop equid-specific indicators of consciousness to better measure welfare outcomes.
3. Improve the design of lairage facilities, handling protocols, restraint techniques, and equipment used for stunning and killing.

By creating a robust and comparable set of data, this research will allow us to lobby governments for improved welfare conditions at slaughter and facilitate training to enable welfare assessments to be conducted in a measurable and standardised way and improved practices to be implemented in an achievable way – supporting both national and international best practice guidance.

We actively campaign to end the long-distance transportation of horses across Europe for slaughter and this project helps to ensure that once equids reach the slaughterhouse, their welfare can still be prioritised.

Peer-reviewed papers resulting from the study

• Fletcher, K.A.; Limon, G.; Agongo, E.; Akunzule, A., Essel, G., Padalino, B.; Grist, A.; Gibson, T.J. (2024). Assessment of donkey (Equus asinus) welfare at slaughter in Ghana. Animals. 19;14(24):3673. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ani14243673, https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/24/3673
• Fletcher, K.A.; Limon, G.; Whatford, L.J.; Grist, A.; Knowles, T.G.; Gibson, T.J. (2022). A systematic review of equid welfare at slaughter, Livestock Science, Volume 263, 104988. ISSN 1871-1413, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2022.104988. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871141322001676
• Fletcher, K.A.; Limon, G.; Padalino, B.; Hall, G.K.; Chancellor, N.; Grist, A.; Gibson, T.J. (2023). Impact of Social Buffering and Restraint on Welfare Indicators during UK Commercial Horse Slaughter. Animals, 13, 2276. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13142276. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/14/2276
• Fletcher, K. A., Padalino, B., Felici, M., Bigi, D., Limon, G., Grist, A., & Gibson, T. J. (2025). Assessment of ante-mortem welfare indicators and the pathophysiology of captive bolt trauma in equids at slaughter. Animal Welfare. 33:e65. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2024.70