American Horses Slaughtered in Mexico for Meat | Investigation by Animal Equality
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https://animalequality.org/campaign/end-horse-slaughter
An Animal Equality investigator documented American horses awaiting their killing at a slaughterhouse in Zacatecas, Mexico. The yellow United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stickers identify the horse’s origin. An on-site veterinarian further confirmed they’re American horses.
In the second part of this investigation, Animal Equality filmed inside a slaughterhouse in Chiapas, Mexico. The images show the cruel treatment of animals inside Mexican slaughterhouses, where American horses can also end up.
At this second slaughterhouse, investigators found severe violations of Mexican Official Standards set to avoid unnecessary suffering.
As the footage shows, workers beat, hang and spray sick and exhausted animals with water in the face to force them to move. Horses are ineffectively stunned—some are shot multiple times in the head before becoming unconscious. Animals are also slaughtered while conscious due to these ineffective stunning methods.
The US Government must protect horses from this fate and ban their transport for slaughter in other countries.
"The death of horse 5036, as well as of tens of thousands of American horses every year, is unnecessary and unacceptable. As Animal Equality has documented with this investigation, the US is sending these horses outside of our borders so that their killing is out of sight of the majority of Americans that oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Our citizens agree this suffering is wrong—now it’s time for the US Government to ban it once and for all."
— Sharon Núñez, President of Animal Equality
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Transcript (English — en)
What was his name?
We don't know.
The U.S. Government gave him
the number 5036
before he was loaded into a truck
and sent to slaughter.
Did you know you can't sell
horse meat in the U.S. since 2007?
You may be surprised that,
despite this ban,
in 2021 nearly 24,000 American horses
were sent to Mexico and Canada
to be killed and eaten.
5036 is one of them.
We don't know when he was born,
but he was killed
on November 8, 2022.
The day after this video was taken.
We find 5036 and other U.S. horses
in the slaughterhouse
Cárnicos de Jerez.
In Zacatecas, Mexico.
This company exports the meat
from these animals
to Russia, China, Vietnam, and Japan.
Our undercover investigators have managed
to enter this place
where they met 5036.
How did he end up here?
We don't know where or how his story starts.
But these documents prove
that this slaughterhouse
receives horses from an auction
in Bowie, Texas.
They breed them for ranching,
horse riding or other purposes.
When someone can gain
some money selling them,
they end up in auctions like this one.
Horses from this auction
are transported for 8 hours
across Texas in a truck
with many others,
cross the border into Mexico
in Nuevo Laredo
and travel another 8 hours
until the slaughterhouse
in Zacatecas, Mexico,
after 16 hours in a truck without
food or rest, scared and exhausted.
The journey for 5036 was likely painful.
Horses must hold their heads down
for many hours on a long trip in a vehicle
designed to transport animals
with shorter necks.
They are also subjected to
extreme temperatures without adequate food.
A 2021 study on horse welfare
analyzed horse's health
in a total of 113 trucks,
including those imported from
the United States into Mexico.
It found that 8 out of 10 horses were bruised.
On average, each horse had 2 bruises,
and almost half were severe or very severe.
5036 is hours away from being killed.
This yellow seal,
put by the Department of Agriculture
of the United States
reveals that he comes from the US.
5036's life ends in this slaughterhouse.
He doesn't stand a chance.
Many American horses end up
in other slaughterhouses in Mexico,
Like this one in Arriaga,
in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Animal Equality investigators
are there to document
the final moments of these animals.
These horses are severely
malnourished and exhausted.
Many can't even stand up.
Some are hung from chains
and then hoisted,
asphyxiating them until they die.
This is completely illegal.
The slaughterers give them electric shocks
to force them to move and stun them.
Sometimes they use pressurized water
against their face too.
A practice banned for horses
but common in this slaughterhouse.
There is no veterinarian around.
They apply an electric current
onto his neck and head
for over 30 seconds.
And then...
he is shot multiple times.
This is cruel and violates Mexican regulations.
In 2007, the U.S. Government
made it illegal
to sell horse meat in the US.
Still, nearly 24,000 American horses
continue to be killed in other slaughterhouses
in Mexico and Canada every year.
5036 is one of them.
The Government must protect
these animals
and ban their transport for slaughter
in other countries.
Today, you have the power to end this.
Congress will soon decide
whether to pass a law
that would not only ban
the killing of horses within the U.S.,
but would also ban the export of horses,
like 5036, from being killed for meat abroad.
Please, sign our petition to ask the U.S. Government
to end the slaughter of American horses.
We are fighting for these animals in several countries.
Animal Equality investigators have also filmed
in horse slaughterhouses in Spain and Italy,
exposing these animals' suffering.
You are probably shocked and saddened
by the images you've seen of horses being
transported and slaughtered for meat.
I definitely am.
But there is no difference between a horse,
a cow,
a pig
or a chicken.
These animals also want to live.
And unfortunately,
these animals also end up
in slaughterhouses
around the world.
But you have the power to make
a very important decision today.
You have the power to impact
millions of animals with your choices.
You only have to make
one very simple decision...
and that is:
to leave animals
and animal products
off your plate.
I please ask you to consider this today.
for horses
and for all of the animals
that deserve
our respect and compassion.
Thank you very much.