Abattoir owner defends business and practices in wake of Panorama documentary

Stephen Potter, owner and sole director of the Drury & Sons abattoir featured in Panorama on Monday night, has sought to defend his business and explain the practices criticised by the programme.

Although he could not provide a figure for the number of ex-racehorses euthanised at the site near Swindon, he insisted it was far less than suggested by Panorama, whose claim was that 4,000 had been slaughtered in abattoirs in Britain and Ireland since 2019.

"We've provided a service for 50 years, doing the best we can," Potter said, "and I think that if we are wanted by the horse-owning public to put horses down, they will come in. The only person who can decide that is the owner and, without the option of abattoir slaughter which provides a return, the welfare of horses will suffer.