A champion English racehorse was killed and served to unwitting diners at a council-run soup kitchen, sparking public outrage.
The four-year-old racehorse, named Smart Latch, had been retired with an injury but ended up being served at a soup kitchen in southern Turkey, in the Yenshir district in the Mersin province.
A resident discovered a strange object in his portion of kavurma – a traditional Turkish fried meat dish – while eating at the municipal soup kitchen last month, local media said on Thursday.
Agriculture ministry investigators found out that this was Smart Latch’s microchip – a thoroughbred mare which had won first-place finishes at the hippodrome in the nearby city of Adana and two other career wins.
The food the chip had been found in was examined on February 4, and investigators realised it was indeed horse meat in that day and the previous day’s batch of kavurma.
They destroyed 213 kilogrammes of kavurma produced at the soup kitchen.
The slaughter of horses for meat is illegal in Turkey, especially for registered racehorses which are typically protected or rehomed.
Details only emerged this week after nearly a month had gone by since the chip was found in the food.
The ministry said that the Mersin municipality soup kitchen had been ‘added to the list of unsafe products after testing showed it contained meat from a single-hoofed animal’ – a horse, donkey or mule.
Smart Latch (pictured) won three races in her career but broke her leg in her last race in October. She had won 1,125,000 Turkish Lira (£19,200) in prize money
A diner at the soup kitchen discovered this microchip in his meal which was later found to be that of four-year-old English racehorse Smart Latch
‘We are in distress,’ owner of Smart Latch, Suat Topcu, said on Friday, adding that the horse had begun racing in 2024 but was retired after she broke her leg during her last race on October 14.
Throughout her short career, Smart Latch earned a total of 1,125,000 Turkish Lira (£19,200) in prize money across her three wins.
Mr Topcu said he had arranged to have her donated to a riding club, using a local transporter he knew.
He said he did not know what had happened to Smart Latch until he was contacted by the agriculture ministry.
He was then fined 132,000 Turkish lira (£2,260) for not formally reporting the donation.
The racehorse owner said: ‘The fine is not important, what’s important is finding those who committed this cruelty.’
Investigators suspect the horse never made it to the riding club and instead went to the slaughterhouse.
They believe the horse’s meat was falsely labelled as ‘beef’ then sold to the company that supplies the municipality’s soup kitchen.
Owner of Smart Latch Suat Topcu (pictured) has been fined 132,000 Turkish lira (£2,260) after not declaring he had intended to donate the injured horse to a riding club. ‘The fine is not important, what’s important is finding those who committed this cruelty,’ he said
The municipality defended itself over serving horsemeat from its soup kitchens, saying the meat used had been sourced in line with the necessary regulations.
The Mersin Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry is continuing its investigation into how the Smart Latch ended up being slaughtered rather than going to the rider club Mr Topcu claims he wanted to send her to.