A criminal investigation has been launched in Turkey after an injured English racehorse was killed and its meat served in a soup kitchen. The incident came to light when a 'foreign object' was found in a stew at a Mersin soup kitchen last month, later identified as an electronic identification chip belonging to Smart Latch, a four-year-old English mare.
Tests by Turkey's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry confirmed the meat was from a 'single-hoofed animal', and 213 kilograms of it were destroyed as unfit for human consumption. Horse slaughter for meat is banned in Turkey, and a criminal complaint has been filed against the company that supplied the meat.
Smart Latch had won three races and earned £19,200 in prize money, but had not raced since October due to a minor leg fracture. Owner Suat Topcu said he donated the horse to a farm where children could learn to ride, as she could no longer race or breed due to a uterine collapse.
Topcu expressed shock and distress, stating he had entrusted the horse to a transporter for delivery to a farm in Osmaniye. He said, 'I even told my colleagues at the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, “if you don’t take this to court, I will”. Whoever is guilty must be found. Anyone who harms an animal harms a human.'
The owner acknowledged his mistake in not transferring ownership officially, saying, 'Perhaps my mistake was donating or giving away the horse without selling it or transferring ownership. A system needs to be put in place for this.'
