International campaign: 13 animal rights organizations denounce abuses

Brussels, June 12, 2019

The road from American horsemeat to our plate remains full of abuse, neglect and fraud.
New investigations in Uruguay, Argentina and Canada by the Tierschutzbund Zurich and the Animal Welfare Foundation, two GAIA partner organizations, bear witness to this.
Belgium is the second largest importer of horse meat from Argentina and Uruguay ", explains Ann De Greef, Director of GAIA.
"It is high time for all Belgian supermarkets to stop selling this cruel meat from Argentina, Uruguay and Canada.
In addition, the EU must ban the import of equine meat from these countries.
Our first investigation into the suffering of horses in Latin America dates back to 2010. Since then, the industry has made many promises, but in reality, the situation has not really improved. "
Thirteen European, North American and South American animal rights organizations, including GAIA, denounce persistent abuses: horse collection centers, their transport, auctions, and slaughterhouses are still hotbed. suffering and abuse of horses.
Exhausted, sick, injured or dying horses receive no veterinary care.
In both Latin America and Canada, horses have little or no protection against extreme weather conditions.

In Canada, horses spend months outdoors in freezing cold temperatures of -30 ° C.
The foals die of cold at birth.
The origin of horses is often unknown, but not the destination of their meat: Europe and especially Belgium, which remains one of the main hubs of this industry.
"Our first investigation into horse mistreatment in Latin America dates back to 2010," says the director of GAIA.
"In the meantime, the industry has made a lot of promises, but on the ground, conditions have not improved. "

Open wounds

The situation in Latin America is disastrous.
Partner organizations Tierschutzbund Zurich and Animal Welfare Foundation filmed the conditions under which horses are treated in and around the Clay and Sarel (Uruguay) and Lamar and Land L (Argentina) slaughterhouses between April 2018 and January 2019. Sick horses with open wounds, abscesses and broken legs receive no care.
The suffering of horses in agony is not relieved either.
Piled up during the long hours of transport, they receive neither water nor food and are beaten with sticks and abused with electric prods.
Horses are also chased by dogs.
In the assembly stations, horses in panic get entangled in barbed wire.
"This survey also shows that the traceability system is not at all reliable," explains Ann De Greef.
"The fact that only the last owner - often the one who buys them for the slaughterhouse - is required to declare the origin of the horse and the drugs that have been administered to him raises serious questions about food safety.
Some horses, for example, come from rodeos and races and are stuffed with anabolic steroids. "
In January and February 2019, the living conditions of the horses were also filmed on the grounds of the Bouvry slaughterhouse in Alberta, Canada.
The horses are kept outdoors for several months without any protection against the elements, in the snow, in the rain and at temperatures down to -30 ° C.
Pregnant mares are not separated from the rest of the group and their foals often die at birth.
Dry and clean rest areas are missing or insufficient.
Bleeding horses who have open leg wounds and can no longer stand up are totally left to their fate.
Whether injured or dying, they receive no veterinary care.
In order to fatten them up quickly, horses are fed too much protein-rich foods, making them sensitive to extremely painful colic.

In 2010, GAIA conducted its first surveys in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.
These images have led many Belgian supermarkets to stop buying horse meat from these countries.
Aldi, Colruyt and Makro only sell European horsemeat (Colruyt Europe supplies itself outside Romania).
Delhaize and Lidl no longer sell horse meat at all.
In 2015, Europe banned the import of equine meat from Mexico and Brazil.
The same year, "Respectful Life" was created, a joint initiative of the Belgian Beef Federation (FEBEV) and KU Leuven, aimed at improving animal welfare.
Researchers from KU Leuven visit slaughterhouses and assembly centers in Uruguay and Argentina.
"But it turns out it's a useless measure," says Ann De Greef.
"The visits are announced and slaughterhouses are systematically preparing in advance.
For example, the new images show how, upstream of such an inspection, shelters were set up and how sick and injured horses are moved to less visible enclosures. "
The latest inspection report of the European Commission in Uruguay (2018) also reports serious shortcomings "in slaughterhouse stables".
According to the official report, "the situation in the assembly centers visited raises new and serious questions concerning the welfare of animals at the time of killing".
Although the control team asked in advance that the slaughterhouse assembly centers be operational during the inspection, they were empty in the three slaughterhouses.
The inspectors found "a reduced number of covered shelters" and "an even smaller number of drinking troughs".
Three supermarkets in the viewfinder
GAIA urges consumers to stop buying horse meat from Uruguay, Argentina and Canada.
"We also urge the European Commission to ban imports from these countries, as was the case for Brazil and Mexico," said Ann De Greef.
Finally, via www.gaia.be, everyone can send a protest e-mail to supermarkets (Carrefour, Match and Renmans) who still sell horse meat from these countries.
Following the launch of our campaign, Albert Heijn informed GAIA that he was suspending the sale of smoked horse meat "because the 'Respectful Life' label no longer provides enough guarantees at this time." In any case, the supermarket chain does not market fresh horse meat.