Horse Blood Farms

The Cruelty of Horse Blood Farms – Pregnant Mare Serum

Big pharma is making huge profits from the torture of horses for a hormone called PMSG (Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotrophin) that is only found in the blood of mares during their early pregnancy. Thousands of horses are raised and artificially impregnated for the purpose of having their blood extracted to increase pork industry profits. PMSG is used by the multi-billion-dollar hog production industry to artificially induce “going into heat” in weaned sows to increase the number of pregnancies per sow in a year, thereby increasing the number of piglets born each year. The drug is used to make sows fertile earlier than they would be normally, and to shorten the time between pregnancies—all to increase the number of piglets produced in a year. It’s a vicious cycle: mares that are forcibly impregnated and soon after aborted in order to draw their blood to get sows pregnant sooner to have a higher number of piglets that are born to die. Another reason not to eat animals or use animal products that promotes systemic animal cruelty.

Most mammals, including pigs, have a natural post-birth hormone level that is regulated by their bodies to prevent the ability to become pregnant again too soon. This allows the mother’s body to rest and recuperate from birth and continue nursing her young. But when sows are forced into pregnancies sooner than their bodies are physically ready or prepared for—induced by drugs, the sow suffers physically and psychologically.

Horse blood farms in the U.S. are just one more way that companies are making millions of dollars off horses for pharmaceutical profits. In this relatively unknown, highly unregulated, largely undocumented, and very invisible horse blood industry—female horses are kept continuously pregnant in order to have their blood extracted as often as possible. To accomplish this, their pregnancies are forcibly aborted by male workers before term, to begin another unnaturally induced pregnancy—sooner. The blood is used for a variety of purposes including for biological research, veterinary drugs for the pig industry and diagnostic manufacturing. Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin or PMSG, is produced and sold by several large U.S. pharmaceutical companies including Merck (MSD), and is also produced in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Iceland for these companies. The product is sold for use in the European Union, the U.S., and China.

Animals Angels USA and Tierschutzbund Zürich/Animal Welfare Foundation reveal how pregnant mares are treated at one of Argentina’s many blood farms.

Cruelty to Horses

Horses endure horrific abuse, pain and suffering on blood farms, and often die from the extraction of too much blood at one time, which leaves them weak, anemic and very sick. Since mares must be kept constantly pregnant, some become too weak during the “extraction period,” so the foals are forcibly aborted by male workers who destroy the sac holding the unborn fetus with their bare hands to forcibly abort the fetus. When mares’ deliver, the fillies (females) are destined for the same horrible, painful life of the mother, while the males (foals) are sold to slaughter and are considered “by-product” in this unethical, immoral industry. When the adult mares can no longer get pregnant or hold a pregnancy, they too are shipped to slaughter.

This inhumane, unethical, secretive business is cruel to horses in many ways: commonly too much blood is drawn in one sitting where workers routinely take 10 liters of blood from a horse in a single extraction—almost a fourth of the horse’s total blood, which leads to hypovolemic shock, anemia, and death; male workers, especially in South America, often handle the horses violently, cruelly and abusively using electric prods, sticks, and boards—with no supervision or regulation; horses are not provided enough nutrition, water, care, or medical veterinary support needed for them; horses are aborted routinely to hasten the next pregnancy; horses are given insufficient or nonexistent hoof care; there is a lack of man-made shelter or dry resting areas for the horses; many horses have been seen to have untreated wounds and are given no veterinary support or care; when the horses can no longer get pregnant or are no longer considered useful to these companies, the horses are slaughtered.

In the U.S., this industry is very poorly regulated by the USDA, which rarely carries out animal welfare inspections or any type of inspection on blood farms because the Animal Welfare Act does not apply and because the budget for the USDA has been radically cut under the Trump administration. Donor herd farms are hard to find and are hidden away, located secretively in rural areas, so as not to be targeted or accessed.

Dr. Cabanas, president of the National Animal Welfare Committee in Uruguay told investigators that he believes “foreign pharmaceutical companies take advantage of the fact that in some developing countries there are no laws regulating the production of PMSG and consequently no controls.”

Blood Farms in South America

Blood Farms in Paraguay and Uruguay, South America

https://youtu.be/yt6g8WmS0Fc

Animal welfare nonprofit, Tierschutzbund Zürich project manager Sabrina Gurtner, is very critical of the horse blood farms that have been exported to South America, “Uruguay and Argentina produce blood plasma for the European pig-meat industry. It is a million-dollar business, which has been running for 30 years and beyond the reach of any control from the EU and Swiss authorities. The blood is of interest to the European veterinary pharmaceutical industry, as it contains the hormone PMSG (Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin). PMSG is used by the European pig-meat industry; it induces sows to reach heat faster and by applying it to the whole herd of sows, it is possible to plan births synchronously. As a result, the pig business is more efficient. Tens of thousands of mares are systematically tortured for this blood business. In order for European piglet producers to make their business more profitable, the mares are made pregnant, exsanguinated and their foals aborted.” TSB president York Ditfurth calls for the EU Commission and the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Services “to prohibit the import of PMSG from South America.”

Pharmaceutical & PMSG Production Companies in this Industry

Central Biomedia, Irwin, Missouri (USDA Approved) – Maintains a blood donor herd with over 200 draft horse geldings. Undercover investigations show extremely thin horses, most very weak, some unable to walk, located outside in muddy pens with no cover, and sells them to slaughter at the end of their exploitation. Most of their horses are bought from the Amish in Pennsylvania, using “middlemen.”
Intervet, Inc., d/b/a Merck Animal Health / MSD Animal Health, 2 Giralda Farms, Madison, NJ (Tel. 866-349-3497), Summit, NJ 07901, Omaha, NE and Millsboro, DE – Intervet produces a drug called PG600, containing PMSG. PG600 induces ovulation in female pigs and sows. The company has another drug containing PMSG called Folligon, which is used for the same purpose in cows, sheep and pigs, all to increase profits in these meat production industries.
Aspen API, Des Plaines, IL 60018 – Public records show the Aspen API imported PMSG from the Netherlands, obtained from horses in Uruguay.
Merck, Sharp, and Dohme (MSD) – A large producer of the drug. MSD is a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ. You can read about MSD here https://actions.sumofus.org/a/msd-cut-ties-with-horse-blood-farms-1
EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA – EMD Millipore is the life science business of Merck KGaA, Germany. They use horse blood farms in the Netherlands, and the product is manufactured in the U.S. (San Diego, CA)
Quad Five, Montana (USDA Approved) – Maintains a herd of donor horses, mostly Percherons, Belgians and Quarter horses, purchased at Waverly IA (a well-known horse auction)
Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO – Read more about Sigma Aldrich here.
IDT Biologika, Germany.
Syntex Uruguay SA, near Valentines / Ayacucho – Syntex Uruguay SA is known to be one of the largest and most cruel, inhumane, abusive producers, with one of the highest numbers of horses, and is a large supplier of horses to the Clay horse slaughter plant, near Loma Azul. Syntex Uruguay SA is one of the largest suppliers of horse serum to the European Union.
Prospect Bio, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 – Product – HOR272 PMSG – Prospect Bio uses blood farms in South Korea.

What You Can Do

SPEAK OUT – Speak out against this horrific practice and industry. Spread this information, share it on social media to raise awareness so more people become engaged.
CONTACT BIG PHARMA COMPANIES – Contact big pharma companies and demand the use of synthetic hormones in developing these drugs, not using animals. Ask them to move away from animal-based products, and call for “a complete ban of PMSG production.”
SUBSCRIBE – Subscribe to SumOfUs.org, an active voice in the effort to stop horse blood farms.
DONATE – Donate to Animal Welfare Foundation conducting undercover investigations into this industry and demanding change.
SIGN – Sign the Avaaz Petition to the members of the EU Parliament, Commission, and Council asking to ban this practice.
SIGN THE PETITION – Sign Change.org’s petition to end horse blood farms.