MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's northeastern state of Queensland has launched an independent inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of retired racehorses after a media report claimed hundreds of thoroughbreds had been slaughtered at an abattoir.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 7.30 programme aired footage from hidden cameras last Thursday of horses being beaten and shocked with electric prods by workers at an abattoir near Brisbane.
The report has rocked Australia's horse racing industry in the lead-up to next month's Melbourne Cup carnival, the nation's most lucrative and high-profile race week.
"This was deeply disturbing, horrendous footage and I was just as appalled to witness it," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told lawmakers on Tuesday.
"My government stands with the many industry figures who love their racing animals and, like them, I want to make sure we leave no stone unturned to stamp out animal cruelty."
The Queensland government said the inquiry would be overseen by the state's racing watchdog, the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission.
The slaughter of retired racehorses is legal in Australia but industry rules in some states ban owners from sending them to abattoirs or knackeries, where animal carcasses are rendered into by-products.
Barry O'Farrell, the head of the industry's national governing body Racing Australia, said on Friday he expected prosecutions to follow from the ABC report.
Australia's thoroughbred racing industry is worth A$9 billion ($6.2 billion) and employs more than 70,000 people in full-time jobs, according to an RA report on the industry's annual economic impact released last year.
($1 = 1.4548 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
