Argentina | Santiago del Estero | Meeting with horse dealer | Horsemeat Import
Loading of horses at the collecting station in La Banda (photo 2012)
Use of dogs to round up the horses (photo 2012)
Today we meet with a slaughter horse dealer in a small town near Santiago del Estero. He says that he has 30 horses at his collecting station at the moment and will have a truck full in a few days. In conversation he mentions a person he works with from La Banda, who organizes the transport, paperwork and does all the dealings with the slaughterhouses. We know this dealer from an earlier investigation and cannot risk meeting him again, as he would certainly recognize us.
In 2012, we visited his collecting station in La Banda, from where we trailed a transport to the slaughterhouse Lamar for 18 hours, during which the horses did not get any water, feed or rest. The conditions at the collecting station were disastrous: Lack of shelter, no water, emaciated and injured horses, no veterinary care, use of dogs to round up the horses and beatings with sticks.
