Extra safety measures are being taken in areas that experienced unrest during last New Year’s Eve Parts of Hedel and Zaandam are designated safety risk areas which means that police will be allowed to perform preventive searches there was designated a safety risk area on December 31 and January 2025 after there were riots in the area last year The municipality has also set up a firework-free zone in this part of the village as it has on the Ipperakkeren in Kerkdriel there will be camera surveillance in the center of Hedel from December 18 to January 6 including area bans for people “who could be a risk for public order and safety.” The court in Zutphen sentenced four men to jail on Tuesday for violence against emergency services during the last new year in Hedel The Poelenburg district in Zaandam has also been designated as a safety risk area Incidents during the previous New Year's Eve and signals from the police are the reason for this the North Holland municipality of Zaanstad reported a group of young people threw fireworks at passers-by and cars extra camera surveillance and more lighting will also be used in the areas The municipality of Altena would not say anything about what is being done to maintain peace in Veen around New Year's Eve Cars are regularly set on fire around New Year's Eve in the village in Brabant It happened again last year at a notorious intersection but we do not provide any operational or strategic information about our preparations for New Year's Eve," said a spokeswoman for the municipality Irish and British racehorses no longer used in sporting contests are ending up in the Dutch food chain because of horse traders in the Netherlands Horse meat was found in snacks like bitterballen and croquettes according to the animal welfare foundation The conclusion was based on research that the Dutch foundation carried out in cooperation with the Irish TV program It is not suitable for people to eat horse meat made from old racehorses as they could have been given medication during their racing career The racehorses that no longer win are considered too expensive to be kept around by their owners They are often transported to the Netherlands and Belgium in "appalling conditions" to be given a new identity in the countries Traders then give them a new microchip and a fake animal passport before bringing them to slaughterhouses in countries like Spain This is how horse meat ends up illegally in the Dutch food chain House of Animals claims that many snacks contain horse meat It is easier to obtain a fake passport for horses in the Netherlands because a veterinarian is not required for the issuance of passports there whereas that is a requirement in many other countries The chips are ordered on the internet with a German code which ensures that the horse's background is hardly traceable House of Animals reported that a European food warning was issued in 2022 for meat from the slaughterhouse in Kerkdriel because it should not have entered the food chain has said she does not understand why the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has not conducted more thorough checks at the slaughterhouse since then The NVWA responded to the story by admitting that there were horses in slaughterhouses in the Netherlands with incorrect passports in 2022 The regulator added that the meat was taken off the market at the time but would not speak any further about the current situation Soeters thinks it is remarkable that the Netherlands is once again "a spider in the web of animal suffering." House of Animals has submitted an enforcement request with the NVWA for extra surveillance on animal transports from Ireland and the United Kingdom The foundation also wants an investigation into passport fraud and the new chips and wants the slaughterhouse in Kerkdriel to be closed The supervisor has a threefold mandate here: maintaining animal welfare and guaranteeing Dutch and European food safety," said Soeters