[Translate to English:] Argentinien | Buenos Aires | Schlachthof Lamar

We again see horses in the lairage, the adjacent holding pens and the large paddocks, and estimate that there are around 130 horses when we arrive. There are two groups, each of about 35 horses, in the adjacent holding pens, which used to be partly covered by a green fabric roof and now offer no shelter at all. The animals are overcrowded, while all pens around them are empty. Like during our last visit in December 2016, stallions are mixed with mares, and injured horses are not isolated. As opposed to the horses in the lairage, 23 horses that are in the large paddocks behind the slaughterhouse do not wear ear tags. We observe that they receive ear tags on the slaughterhouse premises, which is a violation of Argentinian law that requires horses to be marked with ear tags at the slaughter horse collection centre. For many years, we have been pointing out that the Argentinian system of traceability is unreliable and therefore opens the door to fraud. The majority of these 23 horses are neglected and in poor condition, some severely lame. Three of them are in such a bad condition that they never should have been transported to the slaughterhouse, as they are unable to move without considerable pain and should therefore be considered unfit for transport. In addition, their meat might pose a health risk to consumers and in the EU, these horses would not be slaughtered for human consumption according to Regulation 854/2004.