A few years have now passed since disturbing images arrived from Iceland: Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund Zürich (TSB) filmed gruesome scenes in 2017 showing frightened Icelandic mares being beaten and tied, with their necks violently stretched. Nothing has changed since then.
Although pregnant and breastfeeding, a disproportionate amount of blood was – and still is – drawn from them. The reason? Turn that blood into PMSG, gonadotropin used to stimulate and synchronize the farrowing of sows around the world.
A practice that was about to be eliminated, putting a spanner in the works of Isteka, the Icelandic company that collects the blood of mares from one hundred farms and sells it abroad with a huge profit.
But, unfortunately, in recent weeks the government coalition in Iceland has dissolved and, therefore, the project stops “hoping that the European Commission, which has so far bent to the interests of pharmaceutical companies and meat producers and pig farmers, will intervene. Three strong lobbies”, as Sabrina Giannini says in her “Guess who’s coming to dinner”.
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Another undercover investigation, carried out in August 2023 by an international coordination of associations, within which IHP (Italian Horse Protection) represents Italy, also showed what still happens today in Icelandic blood farms, just to feed the farms intensive pig production and increase sow farrowings.
The images and videos shot undercover show the cruel production of PMSG: the workers systematically resort to violence against the mares, kicking, beating and confining them in containment boxes which cause injuries and sometimes accidents. Numerous farrowings cause problems with stillborn or very weak piglets. For biological reasons, a sow can only give birth and nurse a limited number of offspring: 20 or more piglets at a time automatically leads to an increased mortality rate.
Furthermore, according to European regulations, the practice of collecting blood from animals is classified as scientific experimentation and the EU Directive on the matter establishes that animals can be used for scientific purposes and for the production of medicines only if there are no alternatives. Since synthetic alternatives to PMSG have existed for many years, blood farms are no longer justifiable from this point of view. In fact, a few months ago EFTA, the European Free Trade Association, started infringement proceedings against Iceland.
The horror perpetrated on the blood farms, what exactly is PMSG
We at greenMe have spoken about blood farms several times, as has Giannini in the investigative program “Guess who’s coming to dinner” on Rai 3.
But what exactly is the PMSG hormone used for? With the acronym PMSG (pregnant mare serum gonadotropinthe gonadotropin serica equina) refers to a hormone extracted from the blood of mares pregnant in the fourth month of gestation. This substance is used to produce the Fixplan, drug used in intensive farming, especially pig farming, in order to synchronize and accelerate the fertility cycle of females.
In Icelandic blood farms (but also in other countries such as Uruguay) they are tortured for massive withdrawals (even 5 liters of blood per week from each specimen). Various investigations have revealed all the horror of these concentration camps and the attempt to stop this massacre has unfortunately suffered a setback with the early dissolution of the Icelandic Government.
What will happen now
In 2023, the European Free Trade Association (ESA) Supervisory Authority stated that Iceland viola the European regulations relating to the production of PMSG in blood farms. In response to this pressure, the Icelandic Government had early revoked the “Regulation on Blood Production Companies”, which had been issued in August 2022 with validity for three years. However, the Icelandic pharmaceutical company Istekaleader in the European gonadotropin powder market, has announced its intention to ignore this decision and continue its activities.
This situation has generated a climate of political uncertainty in Iceland, with the Government trying to balance international pressure to comply with animal welfare regulations and the economic interests represented by companies like Isteka. The revocation of the regulation and declared disobedience by Isteka have led to a stalemate, with the authorities now having to decide how to proceed to ensure compliance with the laws and protection of animals.
The international community and animal protection organizations continue to monitor the situation closely, hoping that Iceland will take definitive measures to put an end to cruel practices on “blood farms” and to fully align with European animal welfare regulations .
What will happen now? We’d like to know. In the meantime, “all that remains is to avoid eating meat. And #boycottisland”, concludes Sabrina Giannini.
