We meet up with informant Kim. She wants to remain anonymous. Her name has been changed. Kim has been investigating the fate of retired racing horses for a long time.

We talk to Kim about traceability and food safety issues. She explains that the owner has to fill out a horse vendor declaration stating any medical treatments the horse has…

Our team receives anonymous information about a lady from Wachock who is collecting and breeding small animals. Our team drives to Wachock to check on the condition of the animals. When we arrive, we are welcomed by a woman with a mild mental disability. She lives in a very small apartment together with her father. She keeps two dogs, a cat and…

We observe the Lamar slaughterhouse on two consecutive days. It is very hot, 34°C. The outdoor pens are crowded. The horses have no protection from the sun and heat, which contravenes applicable EU regulations.

Three months earlier, in November 2019, this place was inspected by auditors from the University of Louvain in Belgium on behalf of…

There are hundreds of horse assembly centres in Argentina, so-called acopios. Most are unknown to the European auditors. The Argentinian authorities select assembly centres for audits. Usually, they pick model farms. So, we decide to visit assembly centres that are hidden from inspection.

We pay a visit to the acopio outside the town of Venado…

When we arrive at the Land L slaughterhouse on Friday morning, it is raining heavily and will continue raining until Monday. The horses are standing crowded together in the open, soaking wet. There are shelters in some of the pens, but their size is insufficient for the number of horses. In a few places, we see hay lying in the mud. According to a…

We drive to the acopio (horse assembly centre) in Santiago Temple, which is vast. We have been here many times before. What we find is always the same. In the middle of the acopio, there is a huge pile of carcasses with hundreds of dead horses.

A storm has passed recently. Trees and branches are lying around. The holding pens and feeding places…

There are hundreds of horse assembly centres in Argentina, so-called acopios. Today, we visit once again the acopio in Ibicuy with the sacred name of “Espiritu Santo”. It belongs to the slaughter horse dealer Jorge Saap, known as “El Turco”.

The temperature has reached 38°C, but the horses have no shade available, not even from trees. We see…

This month our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team starts their work on a farm in Celiny. Our plan is to trim the hooves of a young mare. However, when we arrive the mare is not willing to cooperate and does not leave her stable. We are trying to convince her, but we do not succeed. Therefore, we have to stop our work for now. In the meantime, the owner…

This month, we do not observe any injured or neglected animals whilst inspecting the cattle market in Bodzentyn. The veterinary inspection is controlling every market, sometimes also with the assistance of local police. The average number of cattle present at the market amounts to about 150 animals. The majority are calves. The government will…