Investigations conducted by the Europe-based Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund Zürich (TSB) in 2021 and 2022 showed severe breaches of animal rights on horse blood farms in Uruguay and Argentina.
At those farms, horses are raised for Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin, a hormone found in pregnant horses and used in factory pig farms to trick the bodies of mother pigs into having more babies. The controversial hormone treatment has been legalized in Canada.
“Pregnant mares were seen to be roughly corralled, hit, and shoved by workers as they were driven into the “blood hall” where their necks were punctured and about 10 liters of their blood was drained into plastic buckets,” Canadian animal welfare organization Animal Justice said on its website.
SHOCKING: A new exposé shows mares being farmed & abused in South America for the production of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG), a fertility hormone used in factory pig farms ⚠️https://t.co/pxBZmXUjJJ
— Animal Justice (@AnimalJustice) October 18, 2022
Horse Ryder dies in New York
Ryder, the horse who went viral this summer after collapsing in New York while pulling a carriage, has died. When Ryder collapsed in the summer, a video of his owner hitting him and screaming for him to get up sparked online and offline outrage.
“Ryder is dead after months of systematic neglect, abuse, greed and lies. There are 200 other carriage horses suffering right at this moment in New York — it’s too late to save Ryder, but they still have a chance,” anti-horse carriage group NYCLASS said.
Ian McKeever, who beat Ryder repeatedly to get up, told cops that Ryder was 13 years, but a veterinary exam “determined that the horse was 28-30 years old rather than the before mentioned 13 years old”, adding that Ryder “was malnourished, underweight and suffered from the equine neurological disorder EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis).”
Animal rights advocates have fought for years to protect the lives of around 200 horses used for tourist carriage rides in New York City.
💔BREAKING: Abused carriage horse Ryder has died – the result of criminal neglect/cruelty by the entire carriage industry & his owners.
— NYCLASS (@nyclass) October 17, 2022
🚨Join our PROTEST Tuesday, 12noon at 45th St & 9th Ave.
200 other horses are suffering now.
TAKE ACTION HERE: https://t.co/MJnm4KPewg pic.twitter.com/88lwpQwy88
Seized ivory traced back to Burundi government
Ivory seized in Uganda in 2019 was traced back to Burundi’s ivory stockpile, the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF) said. ECF funds a project that researches where ivory found originates from.
Research is done using animal tissue samples, and the so-called “14 C” measurement to determine its age. Usually, ivory in the illegal wildlife trade is from animals from recent poaching activities, but the ivory seized in Uganda had ivory as old as 30 years, suggesting it came from a pile owned by the government.
Research funded by the ECF has confirmed that ivory has ‘leaked’ from Burundi’s ivory stockpile. Read more here: https://t.co/stFzRG3fU2
— Elephant Crisis Fund (@ElephantCrisis) October 19, 2022
📷 Alex Hofford pic.twitter.com/jK1s6YKdcM
Elephant Joymala abused in India
“She’s been beaten and abused. Help get sanctuary for Joymala now!'” animal welfare organization PETA shared a video of Joymala, an Asian elephant kept alone inside a temple in Tamil Nadu, India.
The video shows Joymala being tied to a tree while being repeatedly beaten. The video also shows a handler using pliers to twist Joymala’s skin. She was found chained inside a shed for up to 16 hours a day.