When we arrive at the slaughterhouse Lamar at midday, we see a transporter entering the plant and unloading horses. The vehicle is a typical Argentinean livestock transporter: It has no protective roof and the trap-doors are much too low for horses. A worker climbs up to the open top of the trailer and strikes the animals’ heads with a long stick.…

The Syntex farm is located in a very remote area. We see hundreds of horses in open fields. Parts of the fencing are made of barbed wire, posing a risk of injury. We detect a thin white mare that appears to be weak and apathetic. While all the horses around her are grazing, she is lying down and not moving. The tails of many mares are cut short,…

When we arrive at the slaughterhouse Clay at 10:30, there are two groups of horses in the pens next to the loading ramp of the collecting station. Some horses Areal ready standing in the raceway leading to the ramp. Apparently, the horses from the collecting station are loaded onto a truck to be brought over to the slaughterhouse,which is located…

At 11:45, we arrive at the slaughterhouse Sarel. There are horses in the paddocks

next to the main road. In contrary to our last visit, no straw is available for them as a supplement to the little grass growing in the pens. We observe that horses are searching the floor for something to eat. There is little shade from trees, but most of the horses…

In the morning, we go to a veterinary pharmacy in San Jacinto near Canelones and covertly film the purchase of Phenylbutazone. We buy Fenbuzol Oral (Phenylbutazone for oral use) without a prescription. The only question that we are asked is if we need it for a horse. It only costs 142 Uruguayan Pesos, which is about 5 USD.

Phenylbutazone is…

At 16:45, we arrive at the estancia “Sarandí” in the Department Lavalleja. When we drive to the estancia, which consists of three or four buildings, the custodian approaches on horseback. He tells us that this farm belongs to Roberto Mailhos, but no blood is taken here. The laboratory of Mailhos is at the estancia “La Paloma”. The mares are kept…

At the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, we meet with Professor Dr. Ricardo Sienra, director of the Technical Group for Animal Welfare, and Jorge Armstrong, deputy director of the Animal Industry Division. They cannot tell us how many companies and farms are involved in the blood business. They say that the blood serum is exported…

When we arrive at the collecting station of horse dealer Riccetto at 18:30, there is only one horse in the holding pens. We guess that he must keep more horses at another place, being one of Clay’s largest suppliers. We drive around and look foranother field with horses, but without success. When we return to his collecting station at 19:00, a…

We drive to the new blood farm of Fernando Perdigón in the Department Maldonado. On the way there, we find groups of mares in forest clearings. They are dull, abused, their bodies covered in scars from the beatings. Some have identification tags around their necks. Their tails are not trimmed, indicating they are not yet in the production. Others…