Shocking abuse revealed at Cheshire abattoir
Undercover footage taken from Red Lion Abattoir in Cheshire have resulted in an outcry from welfare charities. The footage was shown on Sky News on Saturday, revealing inhumane practices and cruelty to the animals being slaughtered.
Animal welfare group Hillside Animal Sanctuary secretly fitted cameras at the abattoir and passed the footage on to Sky. The film shows horses being hit with iron bars and crammed into pens to be stunned in groups - a practice which is illegal in the UK.
The most shocking incidents include a horse seeming to come round as it hangs from the ceiling, and seriously ill horses being left to suffer. Lynn Peterson, chief executive of the British Horse Society called the treatment "barbaric, inhumane and frankly a downright disgrace in 21st century Britain."
In a statement to Sky, the abattoir, which is one of only two in the UK that is licensed to slaughter horses, said the incidents were "not the norm, but of an isolated nature."
The statement continued: "Horses should individually enter the stunning area and most certainly not three at a time.
"However, small horses and ponies having spent years together as companions are difficult to separate. Horse lovers would understand that.”
The FSA has revoked the licenses of two of Red Lion's slaughter men, who could also be prosecuted.
World Horse Welfare chief executive Roly Owers called the practices "disgusting, appalling and totally illegal…a complete systematic failure of the slaughterhouse to comply with UK welfare laws."
The charity is calling for the complete suspension of operations at the premises until the Food Standard Agency (FSA) guarantees the plant will comply with the law. A World Horse Welfare petition calling for CCTV in UK slaughterhouses has over 16,000 signatures already.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
