Donkey and Horse Meat Served in Edinburgh - I feel Sick

Vodka donkey has asked me to post this article on her blog. She and her French boyfriend, Tin Tin, are so appalled at the thought of their friends being served up in Edinburgh they couldn't eat their breakfast this morning. Vodka was in tears, and is worried that even though she escaped from France, she may no longer be safe in Scotland. We have assured her that there is no way she is ever going to end up as a saucisson.

Vodka would like to firmly point out that many of the horses ponies and donkeys who are going to be eaten are ex pets - not farmed animals. She herself was farmed, she thinks, but she isn't really as she was such a young donkey at the time and was so bewildered and lost she almost had a donkey breakdown. She is now fully recovered.

On the other hand, Tin Tin says he had a home once, and even has a full French Passport, registered with the Haras National - Tin Tin is there in full colour. He clearly has had a family who loved him in the past -and he doesn't know why he ended up on a French fattening farm going to the meat trade. We will never know. If only those sad brown eyes could tell you the whole story, all we can do is make him happy and tell him that he will never, ever, be in danger again.

He also would like to point out that he met several New Forest ponies there, and there was a cute little shetland pony girl, who had given her life to children as a pony club go faster pony - and yet, aged 15, she was sent for slaughter. She couldn't understand it either. He also spoke to a lot of ex racehorses who also wondered why they were there - they had run as fast as they could and done their best but clearly the nearest they were going to get to St Cloud was on a plate.....

This is what Vodka and Tin Tin are so upset about:

"A French restaurant in Edinburgh is the first in the country to offer diners "saucisson de cheval", or horse meat - and it is selling faster than a thoroughbred. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Enlarge photo L'escargot Bleu offers diners a range of delicacies more familiar to continental foodies such as pig trotters, tripe sausages and pig's head pate.

It started serving donkey meat three months ago and it proved so popular, the restaurant stepped up a gear and put horse meat on the menu.

It is served either as a cooked steak with peppercorn sauce or as a steak tartare - raw, with an egg yolk, mustard, gherkins, shallots, parsley and olive oil.

Restaurant owner Frederique Berkmiller, from Tours in France, told Sky News he was serving horse because the public was ready for it.

"Food has changed very quickly in the last 10 years," he said.

"We eat horse meat in France and so do a lot of British people when they're over there.

"It's very lean, very tender and anyone who likes red meat would love it."

The public clearly has an appetite for the dish.

When Sky News contacted the restaurant, they had sold out and were eagerly awaiting their next delivery from Paris.

There are some animal charities however that have a beef with the notion of eating horse meat.

Ross Minett, from Advocates for Animals, told Sky News he did not think the dish would be popular because culturally, Britons do not eat horses.

"Our close relationship with horses, as with other animals such as cats and dogs, has shown us how intelligent and sentient these creatures are," he said.

"They have thoughts and feelings. As a result we don't want to eat them.

"We see horses as our pets and companions rather than a potential meal."

But back at the restaurant, they beg to differ.

"A lot of people are misinformed. When people think of horse meat, they think of the pony in the garden," Mr Berkmiller said.

"The fact is that in France and in the UK, there are horses bred for meat. I don't see the difference between a horse and a cow."

Tin Tin, Last One Out

The shocking news reached Vodka and Tin Tin today, their old home, the meat farm, has closed and all the horses ponies donkeys foals, young and old, have been 'liquidated' 'culled'. Gone. Dead.

Tin Tin was on the last transport out in February 2010 - he and two donkey jennies and their babies, and two other boy donkeys, were the final survivors - the rest are gone. Perfectly nice horses who could have had a life are dead, many of them just 15-18 months old, having never been trained or given a chance.

Tin Tin is in a state of shock - the news that he so narrowly missed selection for the death march crushed even his exuberant nature. He was lucky to have been issued with a set of wirecutters and a map to the channel ports, and this brave donkey with his companions charted a course to safety. Tin Tin's sad brown eyes are fringed with tears as he takes stock of just how slimly he missed going to his death with the others - a mere quirk of fate and he has a happy future ahead of him, with his new girlfriend Vodka donkey.

We are all in mourning for the poor lost souls

Charlou, andalucian stallion
Foniale and her foal
Lav Un and her foal
Konkora and her foal
Espoir Un and her foal - so badly misnamed, no Hope for this little lady
The foals from 2008 - all ages 15-18 months, all gone - we watched their pictures as they grew up into stunning young horses, for what purpose.

Hopefully their suffering is now over and they can gallop free forever.

Entente Cordiale

Well, I am beginning to melt. This new man, the Tin Tin, is very much a new man type donkey, very considerate, opens gates for me, let's me eat his dinner, compliments me all the time on how nice I look in my green rug and how much he is looking forward to seeing me in my red one - after all it is Valentine's Day.

I am hopefull that I may be whisked away for a dinner a deux, with pink champagne and all belgian chocolates - ok i know this is not part of the nutritional requirements of a donkey in the wild but then I am a sophisticated mademoiselle donkey and I have acquired these upmarket tastes.

Mum says that I should be careful about stepping out with gallic newcomers particularly if they offer to take me away - have I forgotten all the dreadful things that can happen to a donkey if it goes in the wrong horsebox?

It all comes rushing back - I'm not going anywhere.

I will put him to the test, he can cook the dinner at home for us and then we'll see.

I am waiting for Interflora to arrive with the roses and maybe our feed company to arrive with a special order, all gift wrapped for me......

Love is in the air.

Vodka Has a Touch of the Green Eye

Ok I admit it, I am jealous.

I have been the Princess here for two years now, and sorry but there is competition now from this great french nana they say is to be my new best friend.

Well at least Paris Hilton got a choice of new best friends and had the final say. Me, I am just supposed to bond with whoever is offered and make the best of it.

So I have dug my beautifully manicured hooves in and said NON!

I have pulled my elegant donkey ears back as far as they will go and glowered at him. I have even charged at him and told him to go back to France....He just stands there, doe eyed, and then I feel mean, well just a bit, not too much. Not enough that I am going to back down.

I will not share my hay with him never mind sweet nothings. It is all too too terrible for words.

I may have to leave home.

Vodka's Arranged Marriage

Mum has been muttering about getting me a boyfriend. It's been going on a while, mainly along the lines of you are so young compared to the other two donkeys and we would never want you to be alone.

So what turns up - a huge French donkey name of Tin Tin....ok so he has a nice french accent and we can discuss croissants and cafe au lait, but

It's a big but. He towers over me. Mum said she got a bit of a shock when the ramp went down and this enormous head looked out hopefully....even the headcollar she had bought him in anticipation of his arrival is a tad neat.

And none of the rugs we have here fit him. Nor does his stable - there is going to be a lot of shifting around to make room for this mammoth.

Now while I appreciate her concern about me being a single lady, at the very least I think I should have been consulted. Maybe we could have reviewed candidates on the plasma screen in my stable and I could have been penpals for a while and then made up my mind,but no, here he is take it or leave it.....

I may well leave it, I am as the Empress of India said, not amused.

Spencer Is Adorable

I know these sheep that I have to live with are as dim as anything - well Spencer is at least.

Betty is bright, Mark is pretty switched on, Frank is noisy and bleats in a deep baratone, Noona and Sonix sort of don't communicate with me very much, but Spencer doesn't think he is a sheep and is always trying to get into our stables and mum says he probably wants to come into the house.

This is him looking at his most appealing. Mum says that many folks would consider he would be more appealing with mint sauce, but then I am prejudiced, I prefer him just as he is.

Rosie is getting better

It has been a long haul but the old trout's leg is looking much better.

She really did hurt herself badly on New Year's eve - so I can almost forgive her for spoiling my party and planned entertainment. I hope the pipe band got another gig when I had to suddenly cancel.

She is still on walkway rest which means she can't come out into the field, but is confined to a small bit of path, so she can't run around and open up the wound.

If you are squeamish look away now. For a horse that almost faints at the sight of a needle, she has been very brave, having her sore bits bathed and bandaged every day.