Feeding Raw Horse Meat

[Gallomph]

WOuld wonder though why unwanted horses would be treated with bute and antibiotics before being sent to the knackery (as mentioned in various posts above) - would have thought like the ones in SA that go to Peterborough from various sales that they are held somewhere for a required time. You cannot send a horse that has been put down with drugs to the knackery for their use (though have heard some will dispose of the body for a fee in one of the eastern states)

People treat their horses with drugs (vet chemicals, that is) to try to help cure / alleviate whatever the horses problem is (often lameness). When it doesn't work, the horse is sold / disposed of the the abattoir / knackers. However, it takes varying amounts of time for different drugs to clear out of the body. How does the abattoir know what each horse has been treated with and how long the withhold period should be, for each horse they acquire from a myriad of sources??

It's good to hear (from other posters on this thread) that some abattoirs put the horses out to paddock for a withhold period, but I wonder how effective that is given the likely lack of specific info on each horse? It would help to improve safety a lot, though.

[rubiton]

Most people would dump them in the paddock as a last ditch effort to get rid of the lameness after treatment then offload them at some stage later when a sale comes up. SO unless its a really long lasting drug (steroid of some sort???) youd think it would be close to being out anyway. The one that sells to the human export apparently keeps them for 6 months to ensure they are clear but he also sells on if they are sane & sound and he thinks they would make a good ridden horse in that time.