During 2007, Animals' Angels worked with and convinced several market owners to install watering systems. Now the animals at these facilities have access to water and some of their suffering has been eased.

Gathering evidence at a slaughter horse collecting station

2) During our investigations, we gather evidence of animal cruelty. We document what we observe and present these findings and the applicable law violations to the authorities in charge. Unfortunately, during 2007, we had to do this many times. Specifically, our horse investigations revealed that transport laws and laws protecting horses on their way to slaughter are often ignored.

Our documentation resulted in convictions in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Iowa with serious fines and additional punishments for the violators. Due to our intervention, conditions for the animals in the care of the offender have improved. Several dealers are now under observation of the authorities in charge.

3) Sadly, injured farm animals are often handled and discarded like garbage. Animals unable to stand or walk are worthless to the seller since nobody wants to buy them. As a result, these animals all too often are left behind alive on an auction's dead pile or are simply left in an auction pen without food or water until they die.

We take care of these animals wherever we find them. If there is a chance for recovery, we take them to the sanctuary, rehab them back to health and provide them with a safe and loving home. If there is no chance for recovery, we make sure that the animal is humanely euthanized in a timely manner. We have implemented euthanasia protocols at several markets to ensure that the right steps are taken.

4) Information is the key. It is crucial that accurate and reliable information is accessible to the people in our country who are in charge - such as our Congressional Representatives.

Right now, as you are reading this, we are busy planning our investigations for 2008.

So much needs to be done and people from all over the U.S. are contacting us asking for help. However, investigations and equipment are expensive and unfortunately our funds are still very limited.

Now is the best time to support our work with your donation!

This is our wish list of investigations 2008:

- American horses exported for slaughter

Investigations along borders to Mexico and Canada;

Investigations in Montana, New York, California and Nevada

- Horse auctions

Monitoring the 7 largest slaughter horse auctions in the country

- Transport

Investigation into some especially long animal transport routes, where animals are transported for several days.

- Markets

Continue to improve conditions for farm animals at auctions.

- Slaughter plants

Become a proud sponsor of one of our investigations. Let us know which investigation you would like us to use your donation for. Simply write for example  "Horse Export" on your check.  Animals' Angels USA is a registered 501(c)(3) and your donations are tax deductible.

Make the Angels fly! Now. Your generous donation will allow us to continue our work to be THERE with the animals. To stand by their side when no one else does. To document and report what really happens to them. To make life for irresponsible dealers and haulers more difficult. To raise public awareness about the existing issues. To inform. To help enforce the laws. TO MAKE A CHANGE.

Thank you for your compassion!

Investigators for Animals' Angels USA looked into several Mexican border slaughter-horse export facilities this past fall. The Texas Department of Agriculture Socorro export facility in El Paso, TX, which is owned by the State of Texas, and the Santa Teresa Export facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is privately owned by the Chihuahua Cattlemen's Association, were targeted for investigation.

In 2007, approximately 300% more American horses have been transported to Mexico than in 2006. And this trend is ongoing: During the first two weeks of January, 2008, 1818 horses (Source: USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service) were exported from Texas and New Mexico to Mexico for slaughter.

Animals' Angels Investigation Reveals: Conditions at both facilities remain appalling for the horses and reveals an urgent need for Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

At the export facility, Animals' Angels observe that horses in these export pens are not fed, nor are they given adequate water.  They have no shelter from the sun, wind, and rain.  Investigators observe horses with broken legs, severe and open bleeding lacerations and end-stage strangles.  Grotesque injuries of all sorts.   Some are observed lying on the ground in exhaustion while others simply trample over them.  Some horses will not survive the long journey from the export facility to the two major Mexican slaughterhouses, which are about 800 miles deep into Mexico.  If these horses are too ill to make the journey, they are left to die in the holding pens.  The injured horses are not humanely euthanized.  Unfit for transport, they die where they lie.

The horses able to walk are beaten with whips to load them onto the steep ramps of double decker trailers. Handling is routinely inhumane.  Veterinary concerns are vague and ineffective, overall resulting in cruel and inhumane treatment of the horses at all stages of the slaughter transport process.

Animals' Angels observes numerous regulations violations at both facilities.  The Commercial Transportation of Equines for slaughter regulations are ignored. Animals' Angels researches driver records, only to find that the Safestat records of several of the observed transport companies show severe and multiple violations.  Some drivers are not currently licensed to operate a truck, yet are transporting horses hundreds of miles coast to coast and border to border across the United States.  Furthermore, several vehicles observed have been given motor vehicle citations for unsafe brakes. These issues are hazard to all Americans sharing the same highways with these drivers.