Iceland urged to ban ‘blood farms’ that extract hormone from pregnant horses

EU concern over cruel' practice of taking blood from mares to create hormone products that increase reproduction in farmed animals

Iceland is under pressure to ban the production of a hormone extracted from pregnant horses, a practice that has been described as cruel" and animal abuse".

The hormone is used by farmers across the UK and Europe to increase reproduction in pigs, cows and other female farm animals.

Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) is extracted from pregnant horses in Iceland during the summer at blood farms", before being converted into powder and shipped around the world.