Animals’ Angels recently returned to the various Canadian feedlots and pastures operated by Bouvry Exports. The locations combined hold more than 15,000 slaughter horses at any given time and secure a steady supply for Bouvry’s Ft. Macleod plant.
Investigators noticed right away that apparently, security had again been increased since the last visit, as there was constant monitoring of the pen area and the plant as well as the access roads.
However, the conditions for the horses at the feedlots appeared unchanged. The feed troughs were always full and most horses had a BCS of 7-8. Most suffered from overgrown hooves.
Regarding the pen area itself, no improvement was noted since our investigators’ last visit. There was still no shelter of any kind for any of the animals and several of the pens were very crowded and covered in manure.
The sole exception were the pastures next to the plant where Bouvry keeps most of their mares and foals. Two shelters were visible in these pastures however they were not big enough to accommodate all the mares and foals. Many of the animals were gathered around the shelter, but did not have enough room to get in.
It should also be noted that Bouvry now utilizes an additional set of pastures across the street from the plant and a lot of mare/foal pairs were spotted there.
This recent investigation shows that Bouvry has made no visible improvements, the horses still have no access to shelter, and their hooves are still overgrown.
Animals’ Angels will continue to monitor Bouvry’s operations and report all findings to the EU Commission.