Uruguay | Lavalleja | Estancia “Don Ramon” | Blood farms for hormone production
One of the two walkways where blood was taken. The stable is currently being renovated.
The death-struggle of this mare must have lasted for hours, which is shown by the trenches made by legs, head and tail. (06.09.2014)
Today we meet with two informants who have been investigating the blood business in Uruguay for six months. They show us a forest clearing where they discovered many bones and a dead mare in September 2014. The pasture belonged to the nearby estancia “Don Ramon”. There, the veterinarians Fernando Perdigón and Gabriel Maruri produced, until recently, blood serum for Europe. They kept several hundred mares well hidden in the eucalyptus forests.
We drive to the former blood farm “Don Ramon”, where we meet Enrique Quintans, the owner of the estancia. He tells us that he had rented a stable with adjacent building to the veterinarians Perdigón and Maruri for 14 years. It was a good business. He received 2.500 USD per month for the 100 square meters. He tells us that he was obliged to secrecy and not allowed to enter the stable. There were always about 60 mares in the production at the same time. 300 to 400 mares were on the woodland pastures nearby. He hardly ever saw foals; they were aborted or died as a result of the blood extraction. Mares that did not get pregnant anymore were brought to the slaughterhouse Clay. He stresses the fact that the blood was always taken at night, probably because of the colder temperatures but also to avoid being discovered.
After 14 years, the veterinarians had to close this blood farm because neighbours reported them to the police. They had discovered dying mares on the farm and in the tree plantations, which are owned by a European lumber company. The forest owners terminated the lease contract because they did not want to let their lumber business be soiled by the blood business. Enrique Quintans tells us that Fernando Perdigón has moved to a more remote area about 40 minutes away from here, where he continues to produce blood serum without disturbance.
