Argentina | Buenos Aires, Cordoba | Horsemeat production
A horse is left to die a slow and painful death on the premises of Lamar.
A horse that is stuck on the fence is left unattended for hours at the Land L slaughterhouse.
Emaciated horses in a muddy paddock without weather protection.
A pile of dead animals at an assembly centre that supplies EU-approved slaughterhouses with horses.
In September 2018, our team travels to Argentinain order to see if the conditions for slaughter horses have improved after the repeated promises of the Swiss and European importers. We inspect again the two largest horse slaughterhouses in the country: Lamar in the province of Buenos Aires, and Land L in the province of Cordoba, as well as the assembly centres that supply these plants with horses.
What we find are the same appalling conditions like back in 2012: Severely injured and sick horses are left untreated, extremely emaciated horses are transported on long distances although they are unfit for transport, and dying horses are left without assistance. At both slaughterhouses, we observe suffering horses which are left in agony for hours instead of receiving veterinary care or being emergency killed. At one assembly centre, we find a huge pile of dead animals. It includes horses, mules and donkeys. At all the locations we visited, the horses do not receive sufficient feed and shelter, or none at all. When it rains, the dirt ground of the paddocks turns into deep mud. We also observe the violent handling of horses by incompetent staff.
At the end of the year and after another audit by the EU-Commission, we will return to Argentina in order to detect possible changes.