Cruelty investigation into horsemeat trade

The food scare over horsemeat being found in beef burgers has raised wider questions about how horses are moved and slaughtered for meat.

BBC Newsline has revealed that the USPCA has been running a long investigation into the trade and believes Northern Ireland has become a blackmarket staging post.

There is no suggestion that the horsemeat that has ended up in some burgers is in any way linked to that illicit trade.

BBC Newsline's Gordon Adair has been following a USPCA investigation which it says has uncovered animal cruelty on a huge scale.

Viewers may find some of the pictures in his report distressing.