More
than 5,000 horses in Iceland are currently locked in any
one of the nation's 119 "blood farms." In these
facilities, farmers mine live pregnant horses for
hormones inside their blood. Handlers extract the mares'
blood during summer months, turn it into powder, then
sell and ship it internationally to other farmers. That
includes to facilities in Europe and the UK, where
farmers use the hormone to force their livestock, such
as cows, pigs, and sheep, to reproduce more than is
natural. Animals endure all
this exploitation just so farmers can enjoy more
profits.
One undercover
video shows handlers hitting pregnant mares
before shoving and imprisoning them inside "restraint
boxes." Once locked in place, handlers then
push huge needles into the pregnant horses' jugular
veins — extracting frightening amounts of blood. Farmers
in Iceland regularly extract around 4x the maximum
amount advised by International standards, taking 5
liters (1.3 gallons) of life-giving liquid from each
horse, every week, for 8 weeks in a row. These pregnant
animals' blood is necessary not just for their own
survival, but also for providing their foals with vital
nutrients. Icelanders are speaking out in
opposition to the cruel practice, and the European
Parliament is considering a ban on these blood-hormone
imports. We must stand with them in order to
help these defenseless horses. Tell Iceland's
lawmakers to ban "blood farms!" The government must stop
allowing farmers to harm pregnant horses by harvesting
their
blood!
