Many people know about Iceland’s volcanoes, magnificent northern lights, incredible landscapes, and unique culture. Still, there is a dark side to this wonderful island that remains hidden from the public: blood farms. about one Extreme example of animal cruelty where pregnant mares are subjected to constant beatings to draw blood and then young sows produce a drug that enters heat earlier more than they would do under normal circumstances.
The footage, made public by various animal organizations, travels the world and shows the intolerable practices of violence perpetrated on these mares. Curiously, these blood farms are legal in Iceland and are subject to regulations that paradoxically require respect for animal welfare.
Already this April, the Animal Welfare Foundation announced, along with other organizations a great video you can see under these lines (there are some pretty difficult scenes) It is a movie where you can see how mares, who are locked in a small cage where the farm workers can not move, hit different parts of their bodies with logs and sticks while they are neighing with pain.
In large industrial farms, the blood of pregnant mares is drawn on these farms to obtain equine chorionic gonadotropin (horse chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone used for livestock.. This PSMG is part of a drug that stimulates sows and young sheep to enter heat prematurely, thereby increasing livestock production.
The video posted by the said entity,Five liters of blood are drawn from each mare each week, usually for a maximum of ten weeks.. This business seems to be gaining momentum in recent months as foal prices improve.
As a result of the investigation by the Video and Animal Welfare Foundation, the Icelandic government, through the relevant health control department, acknowledged that it appreciates procedures that would violate existing regulations and threaten animal welfare. Therefore, he announced an investigation.
More than 100 farms with 5,000 horses
But the problem seems to persist. Now the Franz Weber Foundation He urged all parliamentary groups in Iceland to support his proposal to “end the brutal mare blood farms”.
They are currently operating on the island More than a hundred small facilities with a total of 5,000 horses drawn each week to obtain the aforementioned PMSG.
The Franz Weber Foundation points out that the management of these farms “violates European provisions on animal welfare” and regrets that the EU “has not blocked the products resulting from this maltreatment on Community soil”.
“Iceland’s trade relations are part of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) and must therefore respect certain minimums regarding the health, sanitation and welfare of animals,” the warning from the animal NGO warned.
Hormones to increase livestock production
Veterinary products made from synthesis of PMSG Supporting increased fertility of females on farms means more offspring for fattening and meat sale.
“Given the controversy sparked by videos recorded on mare farms in Iceland, different breeder groups from Spanish communities such as Aragon have asked Parliament not to ban this practice as it is lucrative for their business,” said Rubén Pérez, coordinator. campaign, by the Franz Weber Foundation.
“Livestock pressure groups and different associations associated with this activity come to tell the public that cruelty is acceptable if it has a positive impact on their profits,” he adds.
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Contact details of the environment department: [email protected]