Peter Loffel's Illegal Knackery

As a known "horse dealer", Peter Loffel was notorious for buying up ex-racing thoroughbreds and transporting them over 1000km to one of Australia's few licensed horse slaughterhouses. When the last of these stopped accepting horses in 2023, the fate of the horses bought by Loffel became unknown. Until now. 

Farm Transparency Project's latest investigation has found that Peter Loffel has been buying up ex-racehorses and illegally shooting them on his residential property in Victoria.

In the early hours of the morning, Loffel herds groups of horses into a small yard, before shooting them one at a time in front of each other. Terrified, the horses try to escape, or stand in a corner, trying not to look as their paddock mates are killed.

Slaughtered horses are loaded onto a truck and driven ten minutes down the road to Peter Loffel's knackery. Here, he cuts up horses and cows that have been shot and turns them into pet food, which is commonly bought by greyhound trainers. 

The slaughter of horses for pet food on an unlicensed residential rural property, with carcasses removed for processing and sale, is illegal in Victoria. Loffel's handling and killing of the horses further constitutes a breach under Victoria's animal welfare legislation, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Vic).