USA | Shelby - Montana | Bar S Feedlot | Horsemeat import

The Bar S Feedlot in Shelby, Montana, is operated on behalf of the Canadian horse slaughter plant Bouvry in Alberta. The massive feedlot holds approximately 1’600 horses and serves as a collecting station for US horses purchased for Bouvry in various US states. The horses spend sometimes months inside the feedlot to be fattened up before they are shipped to slaughter in Canada. The feedlot consists of a vast pen area without any shelter or protection from the elements, not even for the mares and foals, which is completely unacceptable given the harsh Montana winter weather. The feedlot is surrounded by bales of straw which serve as a windbreak, but provide no protection from rain or snow. The adult horses and foals have no dry resting place anywhere on the premises.

We note that the horses are wearing different colour neckbands, likely a new tracking system put in place to identify how long the individual animal has been at the feedlot. Several of the pens are crowded and fighting among the horses is observed. All mares and foals are together in one pen. Another pen holds just pregnant mares. Several horses, most likely the newer arrivals, are thin and their ribs and hip bones are clearly showing. We detect a chestnut horse that is limping.