There is a thriving trade in Cheshire selling horses, ponies and donkeys to end up as meat on European dinner tables. In this special report, MARIA MALATESTA looks at a new European law which would bring even greater trauma to these animals' final days of life.
 TAKE a good, long look at this adorable pony. On Wednesday, it was up for sale at Beeston Market. This time next week, it could end up as the main course on a dinner table in France or Italy. The dead carcasses of slaughtered horses have been leaving Britain to be eaten in Europe for many years but now horrified horse lovers are fighting EU plans to allow the export of live animals. They fear the horses and ponies are likely to suffer extreme distress and misery before finally going under the butcher's knife. Equestrians across Cheshire are supporting the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) to prevent British horses, ponies and donkeys facing long journeys to European abattoirs as part of new EU legislation. Chester, along with the rest of the country, could see the return of a trade that hasn't taken place in Britain for 67 years due to the protection from the 'minimum values' law, stating equines being exported must be of a minimum value, helping to prevent the export of live horses for slaughter by making it too expensive. However, the draft EU proposal states this law will be abolished, sealing the fate of elderly British horses, ponies and donkeys as well as injured competition horses which are currently bought by meatmen from markets such as Beeston, to be exported as meat on the continent. Outraged members of Cheshire's equestrian circuit are petitioning with the ILPH for the Government to give assurance on the retention of the 'minimum values' clause when equines are exported. If the plan goes ahead, Beeston's horse auction will be the main departure point for many of Cheshire's horses, ponies and donkeys who would normally go straight to British abattoirs to be sold abroad as meat on the hook. Pamela Bluck, from the horse sanctuary Horse Aid, Care and Knowledge (HACK), based at Lavister near Chester, is firmly on board the ILPH's campaign and believes the proposal poses a major concern for the welfare of horses. She said: 'I have it on good authority that Belgian slaughter houses are horrific. I was very shocked when a vet who is a good friend of mine told me that mares in foal have been shipped abroad because the foetus is considered to be a delicacy. 'People abroad don't care about their animals like we do, there is a big divide. We have sent the ILPH letters to all our members and our local MP. | 
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