The Colorado Serum Company is one of the very few companies in the US that maintain a herd of horses for the sole purpose of harvesting their blood on a regular basis.
The company’s products range from large animal biologicals to large animal veterinary instruments, veterinary diagnostics, specialty products, and laboratory reagents.
The 22-acre facility in Denver is home to over 200 horses, 85 Holstein Steers, 150 Sheep and 22 goats.
In order to ensure that the serum extracted is “of the best possible quality,” the 200 horses are kept in a dry lot – and are fed a controlled diet.
During the time of the investigator’s visit, the area had experienced heavy rainfall, causing the pens being partially flooded and quite muddy. The horses are divided into several large pens, holding between 10-15 horses. In each pen, a round bale of hay had been placed on a hay rack. One foal was spotted in one of the pens, potentially indicating that the company uses both mares and geldings for blood extraction.
Many of the animals appeared lethargic - there was no playing or interaction among the horses; in fact, no activity at all was observed. Most of them just stood there, completely still, with only their tails moving to fight off the countless flies.
The blood, which is usually collected once a week, is always drawn from the jugular vein, using a large-bore needle (14 gauge or larger bore). Several horses had the area on their necks where the jugular vein is located shaved for easy access.
AREAS OF CONCERN
- is important to know that if too much blood is drawn too quickly or too frequently without a rest period for recovery, animals may develop hypovolemic shock (a life-threatening drop in blood pressure). In the longer term, the removal of too much blood causes anemia, muscle weakness, increased susceptibility to cold and reduced exercise tolerance.
Sadly, there are no regulations or laws in place to legally restrict how much blood can be taken from a horse each month – leaving it completely up to the company to decide. Of additional concern is the fact that the animals kept in such blood farms, exist in a “legal vacuum” or “grey zone.”
The Animal Welfare Act, which sets forth minimum standards of care for certain animals (those bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public) does not directly apply to horses kept for the extraction of blood to be used by pharmaceutical companies. As a result, there are no required annual inspections and the chances of detecting a suffering animal are slim.
According to Veterinary Services Memorandum No 800.91, “animals not subject to the [Animal Welfare] Act should also be cared for in the spirit of the Act.”
To promote the changes these horses need, Animals’ Angels will report our findings to the USDA APHIS’s Animal Care Unit, the agency in charge of enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, and request that unannounced inspections be conducted onsite to check the welfare and condition of the horses.