Live Horses and Cows from the U.S. Shipped to Russia for Slaughter


In Defense of Animals
Demand Investigation of McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Other Fast Food Chains
We know that American horses are being transported for slaughter across U.S. borders to Canada and Mexico. What is largely unknown though is that as part of the global meat industry, U.S. horses and cows are being live-exported on huge container ships across the world’s oceans to countries like Russia, with minimal to non-existent animal welfare laws.
In a recent example, an investigation unearthed compelling evidence that 2,253 cows and horses left the port of Wilmington, Delaware on July 16, 2014 on the livestock carrier Abou Karim III. It was confirmed that 168 Quarter Horse geldings, 1,816 pregnant heifers, and 539 Angus Bulls were sold to Russian importers. Read more about this investigation here.

Live U.S. Horses and Cows are sold to Russian meat processors with ties to McDonalds and other US Fast Food Chains.

This specific investigation showed that the AZTX Cattle Company, a U.S. company based in Hereford, Texas, sold the animals, although there is no mention of horses on the company's website. The investigation also revealed  that Kaliningrad Meats, a meat processing company located in the Russian Federation, purchased the U.S. animals.

Kaliningrad Meats and Bryansk Meats are both divisions of Miratorg, a huge meat conglomerate with ties to American fast food restaurants, including McDonald's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Shake Shack, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and IKEA (in-store cafes). Miratorg's website states that they strive for "efficiency" and quantity in the producing and slaughtering of animals, mainly pigs, cows, and chickens, while there is no mention of animal welfare concerns or regulations guiding animals' miserable lives leading up to and including transport and slaughter.

If the horses and cows survive their horrific journey, once they reach their destination in Russia, they often completely "vanish," while those animals who die during transport are simply thrown overboard. Read this article about mutilated, dead cows who washed up on beaches in Denmark and Sweden in December 2014.