We have been observing the feedlot of the Bouvry slaughterhouse in Alberta regularly since 2012. Here, horses are fattened for six months before slaughter. At each inspection, we have found serious animal welfare violations. In April 2023, we are again on-site, together with our US partner Animals’ Angels, in order to verify if the situation for…

The Bar S Feedlot in Shelby, Montana, can hold up to 1,800 animals. It serves as a horse assembly centre for the Canadian slaughter company Bouvry. Slaughter horses from all over the United States are gathered here before being transported to Bouvry's slaughterhouse in Calgary (Canada). There, the horses destined for the EU market stay in feedlots…

Together with our North American partners, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition and Animals’ Angels USA, we have been documenting the horse feedlots at the Bouvry slaughterhouse in Alberta for many years. Here, thousands of horses are fattened with grain feed to their maximum slaughter weight. Our previous investigations have uncovered tremendous…

Our team observes the Bouvry slaughterhouse in Alberta during several investigation days in February 2019. The temperatures measured are as low as -22°C. Despite our numerous complaints in the past, the outdoor holding pens still offer no shelter from the elements. The backs of the horses are covered in snow and frost. The straw-bedded areas as…

Our team inspects the Prime Feedlot of the Bouvry slaughterhouse, where thousands of horses are fattened for six months. We want to see if any improvements have been made since our last investigation in 2015. We find that this is not the case. The horses still have no weather protection. They are kept out in the open, with temperatures as cold as…

We arrive at the Bouvry slaughter plant at 7:45. The pens contain 70 to 100 horses each. Only one pen with shelter is visible in the entire area. Some pens hold large groups of mares and foals of all ages. Some foals have severe nasal discharge, others are coughing continuously. One foal appears to be very sick, either from advanced strangles…

At 8:15 we arrive at Bouvry’s small feedlot on Range Road 264, where it is evident that the holding conditions have not improved since our last visit two years ago. The grounds are covered in manure and muddy. There is still no shelter from the elements and only a limited quantity of straw is visible inside the pen area, by far not enough to…