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After years of investigations, on-site inquiries, and international pressure, one of the cruelest places we have ever documented has finally disappeared: Bouvry Exports in Alberta — once the largest horse slaughter plant in Canada — has been shut down.

In mid-April, our project manager, Sabrina Gurtner, traveled to Aberdeen to meet with experts in horse welfare from across Europe. The event was organized by the Eurogroup for Animals—the umbrella organization for European animal welfare groups—and brought together 19 participants from various countries.

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 partner Animals' Angels USA, we visit the weekly horse sale in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Again, we are here to check the conditions of the animals during the sale and to monitor the kill buyers’ activities.

It is a slow sale day, over half the barn is empty. We note that there are a lot of emaciated horses, and several have…

We visit a horse auction in the United States together with Animals’ Angels USA. The Guy Bynum Auction takes place monthly in Attalla, Alabama. We observe the gathering of some of the largest kill buyers and horse brokers in the country and document an appalling list of abuse and neglect.

There are about 150 horses in the pens. Several animals are…

Together with our partner Animals' Angels USA, we visit the monthly horse auction in the small town of Kalona near Iowa City. We check the conditions of the animals during the sale and monitor the activities of the kill buyers. The auction remains one of the most active slaughter sales in the country. Large scale kill buyers that ship horses both…

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…

We meet informant Kathrin (name changed), who wishes to remain anonymous. She tells us the story of how a woman acted as a front to obtain her two yearlings Peach and Archie by deception for a kill buyer.

Due to health problems, Kathrin decided to rehome her yearlings Peach and Archie to a good new home. A woman in Queensland had promised to look…