Since 2019, the European NGO AWF/TSB has visited Iceland on several occasions to “research” how donor-type blood is harvested from mares.
They have mapped the location of the farms involved in the process and have approached some of the farmers, uninvited, both directly and by spying on them.
Videos and still images from hidden cameras have been published from approximately 10 farms, though no one except the NGO knows exactly how many farms they have targeted or how often. It’s estimated that the collected spy footage spans at least tens to hundreds of hours.
The NGO has released a few seconds of footage that could be interpreted as indicating questionable conduct. However, their published videos largely distort this long-standing farming practice in Iceland. They have exploited the fact that most people were previously unaware of this practice, steering the narrative to cast a negative light on farmers and the industry as a whole.
Their claim is that it’s impossible to collect blood from mares without seriously and negatively affecting the health and welfare of the animals, and they argue that the practice should therefore be banned.
However, we – along with the farmers and vets, who are in continuous contact with the mares during collection – know this claim to be unfounded. Very few animals in husbandry live as well and naturally as these mares. They donate blood on a weekly basis during late summer (a maximum of eight times), amounting to total annual duration of no more than 1.5 hours.
We believe that, if given the choice, every horse would prefer to be a blood-donating mare. From equine point of view, their level of freedom and unhindered natural life is very high and the strain on them on the other hand unusually low. Not many, if any animals kept by man can expect such good quality of life.
Furthermore, partly due to the shadow of doubt cast by NGO, surveillance – both internal, semi-external and external (including governmental) – is much more stringent in this type of agriculture than in any other. In fact, the average farm involved in the process in 2024 was audited on 14% of donation days, or roughly twice on average during the season. This is in addition to the fact that a veterinarian is present and assesses each mare before each blood donation.
The donation process is hardly the mares favorite time. It is restrained for it´s own security and that of the workers. It may experience some discomfort from that and as well by the introduction of the collection needle. The public has been led to believe that this constitutes severe pain or even suffering which could not be further from the truth. The donation itself lasts less than 0.02% of their lifes (1.5 hours out of 365 days). The remaining 99.98% of their time is mostly spent in the open Icelandic nature, freely living with their herd. Can you imagine living your preferred life in exchange for so little?
In September 2024, AWF/TSB were spying on at least six locations using hidden cameras. The footage and stills taken from these hidden cameras were released one by one, over a period of time on television and the internet, with a narrative designed to evoke compassion. This narrative portrayed a situation that, in fact, was not happening.
At the same time at two of those farms, our security cameras were rolling. We thus have the full story the NGO has kept from the public.
Below, you will find the unedited security video footage from one of the farms that the NGO secretly filmed and used in their campaign of late 2024. It documents the blood collection from all the mares eligible to donate that day. The entire process took a little over 2 hours.
Unlike the footage released by the NGO, this video has not been:
- Cut – this is the full process at the farm on this day from start to finish
- Slowed down to imply use of force
- Accompanied by a somber tune intended to evoke a feeling of compassion from the viewer.
- Narrated in a way that misleads viewers into believing they are witnessing something that is not happening in the footage
The only editing we’ve made is to hide the faces of the people working on the farm, for their protection.
Below are images comparing the stills released by the NGO with Isteka’s full footage. You can access the original footage at timestamps 15:29 and 15:39 in the full video (timestamps are included at the top).
