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A shocking PETA investigation has revealed the ‘King of Beers’ mutilates its world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales strictly for ‘cosmetic reasons’.
Budweiser has used the iconic Clydesdales in parades, television commercials and at the Super Bowl for nearly a century. But PETA claims the company has been harboring an ‘ugly and dirty secret’ about how the cruel way it treats these animals to ensure they will look a certain way as they pull the wagon.
Its nine-month investigation last year at Warm Springs Ranch in Missouri – the official breeding facility for Budweiser Clydesdales and Grant’s farm – uncovered that some horses’ tailbones are amputated while they are foals.
‘Tail docking’ has traditionally been done to prevent horses’ tails from interfering with carriage equipment. In some cases a scalpel is used to sever part of the horse’s spine. Or a tight band is used to restrict blood flow, causing it to die and fall off.
But the barbaric practice has been described by one equine veterinarian as ‘surgical abuse.’ It has also been condemned by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners – unless it is medically necessary. And it is illegal in ten states as well as many European countries.
PETA show disturbing images of a Clydesdales ‘full lush long tail’ and than the ‘Docked’ image
Budweiser has used the iconic Clydesdales in parades, television commercials and at the Super Bowl for nearly a century. But PETA unveiled an ‘ugly and dirty secret’ about the way the company treats the animals to ensure they look a certain way when they pull the wagon
This disturbing revelation comes ahead of Budweiser’s 90th anniversary of their ‘World-Famous Budweiser Clydesdales’, for which the company has planned several celebratory parades. Typically ten horses are hitched to each beer wagon.
Experts claim amputation of the horses’ tailbones causes permanent disfigurement and results in lifelong pain – affecting the animals’ balance as well as removing their first line of defense against disease-spreading insects. Horses also depend on their tails to communicate with herd mates.
Equine veterinarian Sid Gustafson and supporter of PETA’s campaign said it is ‘abusive and inhumane to deprive a horse of their tail’.
‘Tail amputation results in a lifetime of impaired balance moving at speed running and turning,” Gustafson said. ‘It is animal-abusive and medically undignified to deprive a horse of their tail, except in cases of medical necessity.’
The Clydesdales busy at work galloping down what it appears to be a parade route
Footage obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch representatives have tried to claim the horses’ tail hair has just been given a ‘trim’.
But when PETA’s investigative team spoke with handlers who travel with teams of the adult horses it was revealed that some of their tailbones have in fact been severed.
In its video a handler with his face concealed is seen telling an undercover PETA investigator: ‘They’re not naturally short. We trim ’em.”
When PETA asked: ‘Do they, like, dock the tail?’
The handler replied: ‘No, we just trim them weekly. They still have their tails. It’s just, they trim the hair.’
When PETA asked: ‘Oh, so they’re like the full tails still? They’re just tied up?
‘Yup,’ said a handler.
But when PETA investigators later spoke to other Budweiser Clydesdale handlers, they told a different story.
When asked: ‘They are docked?’ The handler replied: ‘Yup.’
‘I am not exactly sure when Budweiser does it, but its typically when they’re pretty young. They are cut early on, I know that. Cause they would go all the way to the ground.’
Last month, PETA sent a letter to Zone President North America and CEO Anheuser-Busch Brendan Whitworth demanding the company to put an end to tail docking.
Sent by PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo, the letter states: ‘There can be no excuse for this mutilation, which is done for cosmetic reasons. Tail-braiding and -wrapping are sufficient to protect the Clydesdales’ tails from becoming entangled in wagon hitch equipment.
‘The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales have long been symbols of American values and traditions, and your company should protect this image to ensure that they don’t become synonymous with gratuitous cruelty to horses’.
Moira Colley, a PETA spokesperson told DailyMail.com that in response to their expose the Anheuser-Busch cancelled the horses in-person events for two Super Bowl events in Arizona and another at Warms Springs Ranch.
Guillermo is now calling on Budweiser again ‘to stop mutilating horses immediately and recognize they need their tails’.
‘Budweiser is the King of Tears for harming the Clydesdales for 90 years just for a brand image,’ she said.
Illustrations of the horses tail and spinal cord and location where the tail is docked
The illustration shows how the horses tail is severed disfiguring the animal
A representative who was not named admitted to PETA’s investigators that the horses tailbones are severed
The red circle highlights that location where the horses tail is mutilated
On Super Bowl Sunday PETA rolled out a ‘tailgate’ campaign against Budweiser, with protestors marching alongside a mobile billboard on the parade routes in Arizona.
The protest continued all week with the billboard circling around the Anheuser-Busch’s flagship brewery in St. Louis – near a mural of the Clydesdales celebrating their 90th anniversary.
PETA said on the day of the Super Bowl, an aerial banner also flew over State Farm Stadium and nearby tailgate parties hosted by TV chefs Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay.
‘Anheuser Busch has not yet committed to ending the mutilation of the horses tailbones,’ Colley said. ‘Today we are protesting in San Antonio and yesterday we were at the Daytona 500.’
‘We will be showing up at all future public appearances of the horses. TV ads are in the works, and continued social media to encourage the public to object. Already, more than 26,000 people have emailed Anheuser-Busch to object to the tail severing.’
Anheuser-Busch currently owns approximately 250 Clydesdales, with a few breeding facilities across the country, Distractify reported.
The main facilities are located in Warm Springs Ranch in Missouri – located on 300 hundred acres – and it is home to more than 70 Clydesdales, from foals to stallions.
Grant’s Farm near St. Louis has also been in the Busch family since 1903 and has 35 Clydesdales at any given time, PETA revealed.
The beer giant has been using the horses since 1933, when the Busch family gifted six Clydesdales to their father, August Busch Sr. to celebrate the end of prohibition.
In order to qualify, a Budweiser Clydesdale must be a gelding at least six feet from hoof to shoulder with white stocking feet and a stripe of white on the face, the news outlet reported.
The Budweiser Clydesdales are on the road 40 to 45 weeks a year, Jeff Knapper, the general manager of Clydesdale Operations for Anheuser-Busch said.
When DailyMail.com reached out to Anheuser Busch they did not respond to our request for comment.
In January, the Anheuser-Busch family welcomed four baby Clydesdales — Razor, Stinger, Baron, and Sergeant — at their Warm Springs Ranch location. In the post, the company was promoting their new 2023 foals at the ‘Football and Foals Watch Party’
The horrifying image of a foal’s tail docked
A Clydesdale being taken into the barn area at Grant’s Farm near St. Louis. The farm has been in the Busch family since 1903 and has around 35 Clydesdales at any given time
The cruel barbaric practice is done when the Clydesdales are still foals, and has been described by one equine veterinarian as ‘surgical abuse’
Once the tails are mutilated they are covered with a bow as seen in the picture before they perform for the public. The horrific practice is condemned by the American Veterinary Medical Association and is illegal in 10 states and a number of countries
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