Blood from Pregnant Horses is Being Extracted to Fuel Intensive Animal Farming

EAT

Jun 2

Iceland is facing growing pressure to ban the 119 “blood farms” operating across the country after a recent investigation revealed beatings and abuse.

Thousands of horses are being held at 119 “blood farms” across Iceland to meet demand for a hormone that is used by farmers in livestock production.

Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) is a hormone found in the blood of mares during the first stage of pregnancy from day 40 to 140. It is used in industrial farming to increase reproduction in pigs, cows and other female animals across the world.

To obtain PMSG, semi-wild, pregnant horses are beaten with whips and forced into restraint boxes where their heads are tied, as revealed in undercover investigations. Then, a large bore cannula is inserted into their jugular vein to extract the animals’ blood, in a procedure that lasts between two to three hours.

Five liters of blood are drawn from each pregnant mare every week, for up to ten weeks - this is around four times the amount specified on international guidelines. PMSG is extracted from the blood before being converted into powder and shipped globally.

“It’s too much [blood] and if you take too much they are trembling and have difficulty walking,” said Ingunn Reynisdóttir, a veterinarian who lives in north Iceland.

When the mares give birth, the foals are deemed as unprofitable ‘by-products’ and typically sent to the slaughterhouse.

There are around 80,000 Icelandic horses in Iceland, 5,383 of which are used as “blood mares”.

Beatings revealed

A recent investigation into the industry revealed additional abuse happening on the farms, with the animals being beaten with whips, rubber sticks, iron rods or wooden planks. Vets overseeing the procedure did not intervene. Bite marks were also discovered inside the horse enclosures, which they claim is a sign of anxiety and severe stress.

“Since only veterinarians are allowed to carry out the blood collections, according to Icelandic law they would have to intervene immediately in case of animal welfare violations and report them to the veterinary authority, '' said Sabrina Gurtner, Project Manager for Animal Welfare Foundation, the organization that conducted the investigation. “However, this does not happen because the veterinarians earn good money from the blood business too, as informants confirmed to us.”

The video evidence of the abuse documented during the investigation was submitted to the Icelandic animal welfare lawyer Árni Stefán Árnason, who stated that "the beating scenes depict cruelty to horses which is strictly forbidden. This can be punished with a heavy fine or imprisonment of up to two years, as well as with a prohibition to keep animals".

Growing opposition

Support for a countrywide ban is growing rapidly.

The European parliament has called for a ban on imports of the hormone, while the European commission has voiced its concerns about the treatment of the horses farmed for their blood.

Meanwhile, the opposition People’s party has put a bill through parliament calling for a ban, which is awaiting a vote.

In light of the investigation, a coalition of 17 international animal protection organizations filed a complaint against horse blood farming in Iceland to the European Free Trade Association’s Surveillance Authority (EFTA).

The complaint states that the blood farms are in breach of laws applying in the European Economic Area (EEA) on the protection of animals used in science, and demands that blood extraction is banned in Iceland.

Opposition to the blood farms is growing among the Icelandic public too, with 66 percent of the population against the bloodshed, according to a survey in December. And despite blood farms operating in the country for around four decades, many were unaware that the practice occurred until last year when AWI’s undercover investigation was broadcast on television.

“I didn’t have a clue we were doing this here and I was shocked when I saw it,” said Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir, chair of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association, which supports the bill to ban blood farms. “It [is] awful.”

Exploitation of all animals

PMSG is predominantly used in industrial animal breeding to increase the reproductive performance of farmed animals by synchronizing cycles and increasing the number of offspring produced per year, according to Animal Welfare Foundation.

The use of PMSG in intensive pig farming is very common all over the world to boost profits.

As well as causing cruelty to horses, the hormone also promotes unnatural rates of reproduction in animals farmed for food, giving them no time to recover in between pregnancies.

“I would like people to know that Iceland is actually stabbing semi-wild pregnant mares, taking their blood in extreme volumes and frequency, just to … make pigs have more pigs,” said Rósa Líf Darradóttir, a medical doctor and horse owner in Reykjavik.

What can you do?

The suffering inherent in the animal agriculture industry is becoming more and more apparent, thanks to investigations, advocacy, and raised awareness. But few people realize that equine abuse is also involved in intensive farming.

The most powerful thing you can do to protect both the horses that are being drained of blood and the animals who are being forced to reproduce at a rate far surpassing their natural capabilities, is to choose plant-based foods instead.

To help you get started, Species Unite has released a What We Think, Wear and Eat Matters Starter Kit. You can download your free kit here.

This week, the Species Unite podcast spoke with Gemunu de Silva, the co-founder of Tracks Investigations, the filming agency that conducted the recent investigation into horse blood farms in Iceland. Listen to the full conversation here.

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