‘Straight out of a horror movie’: petition against taking pregnant mares’ blood for drugs
World Horse Welfare has spoken out against “appalling practices” being used to source blood from pregnant mares in parts of South America.
The international charity shared a petition calling for a ban on the import to Europe of any goods produced using these techniques.
The Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), an arm of Tierschutzbund Zurich (TSB), has conducted investigations into the techniques, which involve taking the horses’ blood for the sake of a hormone produced by pregnant mares, which is used for pharmaceutical products.
“The investigations by TSB and AWF appear to show some appalling practices in sourcing blood from pregnant mares in some countries of South America,” a World Horse Welfare spokesman told H&H.
“We are in close contact with TSB and the AWF about their campaign and how we might support it.
“In the meantime, we urge you to sign the petition which calls for a ban on the import to Europe of any goods produced using these techniques and share it with all of your networks in order to help this campaign make as big an impact as possible.”
The petition, addressed to members of the EU parliament, commission and council has been signed by more than 1,550,000 people.
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It says that as a “world leader in animal welfare”, Europe should apply its own standards to the products it imports.
“It’s straight out of a horror movie: hundreds of pregnant horses hooked up to blood-draining machines, some so weak they collapse and die. But we can stop this right now,” states the petition.
“The industrial horse torture is driven by European pharmaceutical companies who use the blood to speed up factory farming.The EU has said it’s considering action, but so far nothing has happened.
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“No more horses need to die! Let’s light a fire under the EU with a massive million-person petition demanding they ban the abusive pregnant horse blood trade.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.