Glen Flewelling is one of the largest slaughter horse traders in Alberta. Flewelling raises horses for slaughter only and ships them to Japan.
The investigators arrived at Glen Flewelling’s feedlot at 3:30 pm. The feedlot consists of large pen areas on both sides of the road. Behind these holding pens, there were additional, extensive pastures with more horses.
All horses appeared to be draft horses, investigators counted approx. 500 to 750 animals. There was no shelter to protect them from extreme weather conditions. In every pen were several large, metal feeding stations filled with grain. A lot of horses were busy eating, many were overweight (BCS 8).
All horses appeared to be very shy and not used to humans. Some had overgrown hooves which had not been trimmed for a long time. Several horses had club feet, a black horse with a club foot was observed limping. Young foals & mares were kept in a separate pen. This pen had no shelter either and only a very limited amount of straw available for the foals to lie down.
A pick-up truck from “Diamond J Lyster Ranch” with livestock trailer was backed up to the ramp and unloading foals. The truck had Alberta license plates.
At 1:35 pm, the truck left the feedlot. The owners of the “Diamond J Lyster Ranch” have been linked in the past to selling Quarter Horse foals at an auction in Winfield, where only PMU foals were sold.
It is very likely that the foals delivered to the Flewelling feedlot were also from PMU mares. Investigators attempted to speak to Flewelling, but he refused. He stated that his horses were “the best cared for in Canada."
Animals' Angels will continue to monitor Flewelling's activities.