Horses Bled to Death in Turkey
Other Viewing Options
PETA has obtained undercover video footage showing horses violently dragged to the ground with ropes so that their necks can be slashed with a scalpel while they are completely conscious. Their blood is then collected and used in medical products.
Taken at Turkey's government-run Refik Saydam Hygiene Center (RSHC), the video captures shocking images of struggling horses whose blood is used in serum production. Workers bind the horses' legs closely to their bodies for restraint and sit on top of the struggling animals to hold them down. Moans of agony and shudders of pain reveal the horses to be fully conscious during the procedure, which sometimes lasts for hours. The horses are then left to bleed to death. Finally, their bodies are dragged outside and dumped beside the street.
This horse's legs are tightly bound with rope.
Humane Alternatives
In the United States and Europe, blood is collected from horses just as it's collected from human beings: A needle is inserted through the skin and into a vein. Horses stand comfortably in a stall during the procedure, and several liters of blood are collected without harming or killing the horses. It is nothing compared to the anguish experienced by the horses at the RSHC. The video reveals RSHC technicians who cannot or will not make a proper needle insertion and who instead crudely slash the horses' necks in order to expose the jugular vein. There is no excuse for this coarse and cruel technique. PETA wrote to RSHC officials to inform them that this horrific cruelty will not be tolerated.
Hazardous to Humans and Horses
The RSHC produces horse serum for the government as a cheap but dangerous substitute for human serum in medical products. The United States long ago used horse serum for rabies shots and other antitoxins until it was discovered that horse antibodies lead to a dangerous condition called "serum sickness" in 16 percent of patients. Today, horse blood is increasingly unnecessary for medical use in the U.S., but when it is needed, obtaining it is nothing like what happens in this house of horrors run by the Turkish government.
What You Can Do
1. Write to RSHC President Dr. Mustafa Ertek and ask him to stop these cruel procedures immediately:
Mustafa Ertek, M.D., President
Refik Saydam Hygiene Center
Cemal Gursel Caddesi, No. 18
06100 Sihhiye, Ankara
Turkey
mustafa.ertek@saglik.gov.tr
2. Write to Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the president of Turkey, and tell him that the Turkish government is failing to meet European animal protection standards:
His Excellency Ahmet Necdet Sezer
President of the Turkish Republic
Cankaya Kosku
Sehit Ersan Caddesi, No. 14
??ankaya, Ankara
Turkey
cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
3. Write to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, and ask him to ensure that the Ministry of Health adheres to Turkey???s Animal Protection Law.
His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic
Baþbakanlýk
Necatibey Cad., No. 108
Ankara
Turkey
bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr
4. Please make an urgent donation to support our work for horses and other animals suffering in Turkey and around the world.
Other Viewing Options
PETA has obtained undercover video footage showing horses violently dragged to the ground with ropes so that their necks can be slashed with a scalpel while they are completely conscious. Their blood is then collected and used in medical products.
Taken at Turkey's government-run Refik Saydam Hygiene Center (RSHC), the video captures shocking images of struggling horses whose blood is used in serum production. Workers bind the horses' legs closely to their bodies for restraint and sit on top of the struggling animals to hold them down. Moans of agony and shudders of pain reveal the horses to be fully conscious during the procedure, which sometimes lasts for hours. The horses are then left to bleed to death. Finally, their bodies are dragged outside and dumped beside the street.

Humane Alternatives
In the United States and Europe, blood is collected from horses just as it's collected from human beings: A needle is inserted through the skin and into a vein. Horses stand comfortably in a stall during the procedure, and several liters of blood are collected without harming or killing the horses. It is nothing compared to the anguish experienced by the horses at the RSHC. The video reveals RSHC technicians who cannot or will not make a proper needle insertion and who instead crudely slash the horses' necks in order to expose the jugular vein. There is no excuse for this coarse and cruel technique. PETA wrote to RSHC officials to inform them that this horrific cruelty will not be tolerated.
Hazardous to Humans and Horses
The RSHC produces horse serum for the government as a cheap but dangerous substitute for human serum in medical products. The United States long ago used horse serum for rabies shots and other antitoxins until it was discovered that horse antibodies lead to a dangerous condition called "serum sickness" in 16 percent of patients. Today, horse blood is increasingly unnecessary for medical use in the U.S., but when it is needed, obtaining it is nothing like what happens in this house of horrors run by the Turkish government.
What You Can Do
1. Write to RSHC President Dr. Mustafa Ertek and ask him to stop these cruel procedures immediately:
Mustafa Ertek, M.D., President
Refik Saydam Hygiene Center
Cemal Gursel Caddesi, No. 18
06100 Sihhiye, Ankara
Turkey
mustafa.ertek@saglik.gov.tr
2. Write to Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the president of Turkey, and tell him that the Turkish government is failing to meet European animal protection standards:
His Excellency Ahmet Necdet Sezer
President of the Turkish Republic
Cankaya Kosku
Sehit Ersan Caddesi, No. 14
??ankaya, Ankara
Turkey
cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr
3. Write to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister of Turkey, and ask him to ensure that the Ministry of Health adheres to Turkey???s Animal Protection Law.
His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic
Baþbakanlýk
Necatibey Cad., No. 108
Ankara
Turkey
bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr
4. Please make an urgent donation to support our work for horses and other animals suffering in Turkey and around the world.