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One Year On from the Horsemeat Scandal

Pictures: World Horse Welfare.

Horse & Country TV Broadcasts HRH The Princess Royal’s Speech Challenging Horse Lovers to Think Again

Marking the anniversary of the horsemeat scandal, Horse & Country TV will broadcast a special programme featuring HRH The Princess Royal’s speech from the recent World Horse Welfare Conference, which considered ‘Horses in the Next Generation’.

This is the first time The Princess Royal’s speech, in which she suggested that horse welfare could be improved by the commercial sale of horsemeat in UK supermarkets, will have been shown in full on national television.  The show will premiere on Horse & Country TV on Wednesday, January 15.

In her speech, Princess Anne suggested British attitudes towards eating horsemeat may have to change in the face of Britain’s ‘Horse Crisis’ where almost 7,000 horses are at risk of neglect and abandonment.

The former Olympic eventer said: “Should we be considering a real market for horsemeat and would that reduce the number of welfare cases, if there was a real value in the horsemeat sector? I chuck that out for what it’s worth because I think it needs a debate.”

She continued: “As I was reminded not so long ago by somebody who travelled in France, the most expensive piece of meat in the local butcher was a fillet of horsemeat.”

“We’ve got to understand whether that value has a part to play in how we reduce welfare cases, because… if it has real financial value then you look a bit further ahead in the way in which you look after your animals.”

The comments rekindled the debate that roiled the UK during the early part of 2013 after the discovery of horse DNA in processed food products on sale in UK and Irish supermarkets, resulting in a series of product recalls and throwing the spotlight on the food industry’s supply chain, testing procedures and food labelling.

L-R: Lord De Mauley, Ian Stark, Chair Philip Ghazala, Jenny Rudall and British endurance rider Anna Williams.
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L-R: Lord De Mauley, Ian Stark, Chair Philip Ghazala, Jenny Rudall and British endurance rider Anna Williams.

The second half of the 30-minute show features a panel discussion from the same event, in which Environment Minister, Lord de Mauley, former Olympic eventer Ian Stark, British endurance rider Anna Williams and H&C TV presenter Jenny Rudall debate a range of horse welfare topics.

The 30-minute programme will be aired on Horse & Country TV (Sky Channel 280) on Wednesday 15 January 2014 at 7:30pm.

Horse & Country TV broadcasts in the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Malta, and can be found on the web at www.horseandcountry.tv , www.horseandcountrytv.nl, and www.horseandcountrytv.se. The Channel carries exclusive sports event coverage, news, documentary and personality-led programming to the passionate audience for horse sports and country living. At the UK’s Broadcast Digital Awards H&C won “Best Specialist Channel” in 2011 and was shortlisted in two categories this year. Online H&C publishes blogs and commentary provided by a range of experts and personalities, an extensive range of equestrian video, a calendar of events, as well as programme support material for all of the Channel’s featured shows. H&C’s role as a community hub for the horse and countryside loving community is reflected in the Channel’s 500,000+ viewers each month, 110,000+ Facebook fans and 30,000+ followers on Twitter.

Horse & Country TV press enquiries:
Hannah Grissell – Revolution Sports + Entertainment
Tel: +44 (0) 207 592 1207 E: hannah@revolutionsports.co.uk

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