The Prime Feedlot is Bouvry’s main feedlot, which holds close to 10,000 horses at any given time. The feedlot is located in a rural area between Fort Macleod and Granum. According to the landowner map of Willow Creek the property is owned by Claude Bouvry. When investigators arrived they noticed immediately that there was still no shelter for the horses. Some holding pens appeared very overcrowded. From a small bridge at the end of Range Road 265 a few pens were visible. The horses were lined-up at the feed troughs and eating. All of the Belgian draft horses and Percherons were close to a BCS of 8. Once they have reached their desired weight, they are then transported by local trucking companies to the McLeod plant and slaughtered.
10/24/13
7:40 am: Overnight, the temperatures had dropped to 25°F and the horses had no protection from the cold. Some of the holding pens were extremely muddy and covered with manure. In one pen, a dead mare and her dead foal were visible. The other horses were sniffing them and surrounded the carcasses, which appeared to have been lying there for several days. Their bodies already had started to decompose and scavengers had eaten parts of the flesh away. Bones and intestines were visible. This proves that Bouvry’s workers do not check the horses’ welfare on a daily basis. These horses should have been detected when still alive and been given medical assistance. Their cramped body posture could indicate that they died a slow and painful death.
The investigation revealed that conditions remain unchanged at the Bouvry feedlots and that the treatment of the horses is far below EU standard.