Hormone from pregnant blood horses is used in breeding
Not only is the hormone of pregnant blood horses used in breeding. The human hormone that is extracted from the urine of pregnant women is also used in pig breeding, horse breeding in goats and sheep breeding at dairy farms to increase fertility in cows. Hormones are chemicals that are produced by the body and perform various functions. Various hormones are produced during pregnancy, including **human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone is produced and secreted by the egg cell to notify the body that there is a pregnancy. HCG can then be detected fairly quickly in the pregnant woman's urine, sometimes as early as two weeks after fertilization, and is therefore also known as the pregnancy hormone. There are several reasons why urine can be collected from pregnant women. One example is collecting urine for **Mothers for Moms**. This is an organization that collects urine from pregnant women to extract the pregnancy hormone hCG. The hCG hormone is then used to to make medicines that stimulate ovulation ².
In Iceland, more than 5,000 pregnant mares draw blood every year to obtain the fertility hormone PMSG. The wiretapping is done in a terrible way. The anxious mares are beaten, mistreated and bitten by dogs.
Blood from pregnant horses. It contains a valuable hormone that makes other animals more fertile. This trade provides thousands of additional foals, a by-product of this bloody industry. But what happens to all those redundant foals that are brought to Earth by pregnant blood horses? It should come as no surprise that the livestock industry uses innovative methods and resources to maximize productivity.
Bloody industry
Pregnant horses produce the hormone PMSG (Pregnant Mare's Serum Gonadotropin). This hormone, which is extracted from the blood, contains a substance that can act as fertility medication for other animals. In the Netherlands, you used to have companies where they drew blood from horses for this hormone. They call that blood farms.
Meanwhile, it is no longer allowed to extract livestock medicine from horse blood in the Netherlands. Its use is still allowed. Pharmaceuticals, including two Dutch companies, therefore import the fertility hormone from other countries where horse blood still flows profusely.
Redundant foals
In Iceland and several South American countries, where blood drafts are still operational, tens of thousands of mares are being kept to provide other animals with fertility medication. In Iceland alone, there are 4,000 mares who are kept for their blood.
Every year, tens of thousands of foals are born as a by-product of this bloody industry. However, the blood farms cannot accommodate all new foals. Most of these young horses are therefore destined for the meat industry. Where does the meat of all those redundant foals end up?