Petition against blood farms submitted – now it's up to the Icelandic government!

On Monday (20 October), together with six partner organisations, we handed over more than 300,000 signatures to Icelandic Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson. Our message is clear: Iceland must finally put an end to cruel blood farms.

The licence of the pharmaceutical company Ísteka, which extracts blood from pregnant mares, expired in early October. Ísteka extracts the hormone PMSG from the blood, which is used in industrial animal breeding to increase the fertility of animals and synchronise births. It is often used on pigs and causes great suffering for the mother sows and (surplus) piglets. 

Now the government in Reykjavík faces a landmark decision: Will it renew the licence – or finally put animal welfare above profit?

Back in 2023, the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) warned the Icelandic government that the country was in breach of EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. According to this directive, certain protective measures must be in place before a project can be approved. For example, it must be checked whether there is a scientifically equivalent method that does not involve the use of live animals, and the ‘anticipated harm’ to the animal must be weighed against the expected benefit.

However, Iceland believed that blood collection from pregnant mares did not fall under the Icelandic regulation implementing the directive. Therefore, these protective measures were not applied in practice. 

Following the ESA's warning letter, Iceland agreed to apply the regulation implementing the directive to blood collection in future. Nevertheless, Ísteka was allowed to continue operating until October 2025. However, renewing the licence now would clearly violate European and Icelandic law, as blood collection is considered animal testing and animal-free alternatives have long been available and are used in Switzerland, for example, but also in Iceland itself.

"Since we first exposed the cruelty of the blood trade, pregnant mares are still suffering. Week after week, the frightened animals are separated from their foals, restrained in cramped stalls and have litres of blood drained from them,‘ says our project manager Sabrina Gurtner. ’Renewing the licence would not only be cruel, but also a clear violation of European law."
 

Iceland in the spotlight

The blood farms have sparked outrage around the world. Many tourists and animal lovers can hardly believe that a country admired for its nature and wildlife allows such a system to exist. 

"Iceland now has the opportunity to set an example – for compassion, credibility and genuine animal welfare," says Deborah Lewis of Ekō, one of our partner organisations with whom we submitted the petitions.

To show the Icelandic government the suffering behind the blood farms, we came up with something special: for the handover, we placed five-litre canisters filled with fake blood in front of the parliament building. That's 40 litres of blood – the amount that is taken from a mare per ‘blood season’. For the small Icelandic horses, this loss of blood is a major physical strain. 

Cautious reaction from the minister

However, the Icelandic authorities seem reluctant to address the cruel reality of the horse blood trade: this was evident when, shortly before the meeting, the ministry team prohibited us from staging our protest during the handover. We were not allowed to display the blood canisters or the signs with pictures from our undercover investigations. 

During the handover, Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson listened to our concerns and thanked us for our work. However, she made no official commitments and explained that the government could not make a public statement before the courts had ruled on Ísteka's lawsuit against the state.

The pharmaceutical company that draws blood from pregnant mares is challenging the government's decision to apply the regulation on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Ísteka claims that the blood sampling is not scientific but agricultural.

We and our partner organisations were pleased to have the opportunity to present our demands, but were disappointed that the meeting did not result in any commitments to change.

International attention

The fact that this issue is being discussed at the highest political level at all is also thanks to our numerous supporters. With every signature, the pressure continued to build, and is now palpable.

In addition, various partner organisations from different countries launched their own petitions based on our research, thereby contributing significantly to the success of the signature collection. We are delighted that our donations have been multiplied as a result and are having an impact not only here but also internationally. 

Now it is up to the Icelandic government to make the right decision – and finally put an end to blood farms.