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20. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

Weak and extremely emaciated gelding.

We return to the auction site on the day after the sale at 6:40. Most horses are still in

the holding pens, a few are on the pastures. At 7:20, the first transporter backs up to

the loading ramp and immediately starts loading horses. Dogs are seen chasingthem down the raceway from the pens to the loading ramp. The auction employees use long…

19. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

Ein Reitpferd wird durch den Auktionsring gehetzt.

The horse auction in San Antonio is organised by horse dealer Richard Prego, who is one of Clay’s largest suppliers of slaughter horses. The sale starts at 15:00. Theauctioneer announces through loudspeakers that 400 horses are offered for sale. Both riding and loose horses are chased through the auction ring for about two minutes. The handling by…

19. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

[Translate to English:] Ein Reitpferd wird durch den Auktionsring gehetzt.

The horse auction in San Antonio is organised by horse dealer Richard Prego, who is one of Clay’s largest suppliers of slaughter horses. The sale starts at 15:00. Theauctioneer announces through loudspeakers that 400 horses are offered for sale. Both riding and loose horses are chased through the auction ring for about two minutes. The handling by…

19. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

The horse auction in San Antonio is organised by horse dealer Richard Prego, who is one of Clay’s largest suppliers of slaughter horses. The sale starts at 15:00. Theauctioneer announces through loudspeakers that 400 horses are offered for sale. Both riding and loose horses are chased through the auction ring for about two minutes. The handling by…

19. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

Horse with broken fetlock sold at the auction.

The horse auction in San Antonio is organised by horse dealer Richard Prego, who is one of Clay’s largest suppliers of slaughter horses. The sale starts at 15:00. Theauctioneer announces through loudspeakers that 400 horses are offered for sale. Both riding and loose horses are chased through the auction ring for about two minutes. The handling by…

18. March 2015

Uruguay | San Antonio | Horse Auction | Horsemeat Import

Horses of different sizes transported together.

We arrive at the auction site outside San Antonio at 15:30. The auction will take place the next day, but 230 horses have already been delivered and about half of  them are yearlings. A horse transporter is parked at the ramp and we observe the unloading, which is quite chaotic. The handling by the workers is rough; they hit the horses with long…

18. March 2015

Uruguay | Canelones | Slaughter horse collecting station | Horsemeat Import

Horse with tag from a recent auction.

Today we visit the collecting station of horse dealer Prego near Canelones in the

south of Uruguay. He is one of Clay’s largest suppliers and shipped 1.147 horses to Clay in the past year. When we arrive, an employee is busy preparing horses for anauction that takes place in San Antonio the next day. He is cutting their manes and says that they…

18. March 2015

Uruguay | San José | Estancia “La Paloma” | Blood farms for hormone production

Mares used for hormone production.

We continue to the estancia “La Paloma” of blood farmer Roberto Mailhos. His foreman does not introduce himself and says he does not have permission to give us any information. We want to know how many mares there are on the blood farm. He claims 80 to 90. Just along the access road to the estancia, we have seen about 200. A worker tells us later…

18. March 2015

Uruguay | Florida | Farm of Syntex | Blood farms for hormone production

Closed gate with sign “No Pasar” (no trespassing)

Today we want to visit the blood farm “Loma Azul”, one of the farms of the probably largest blood producer, Syntex Uruguay SA. From customs documents we know that Syntex Uruguay alone exports blood serum worth about 2 Mio. US-Dollars to Europe every month.

The blood farm is secured like a military facility. We manage to pass the first barrier, at…