The horse meat market can be split into two: domestic slaughter and live exports. In the domestic stream, horses are grain-fattened on feedlots, primarily in Alberta, which have horse-specific standards for operation and animal handling – like with every livestock animal raised in Canada – to ensure high ethicality and animal quality of life. Anyone who has interacted with horses knows how easily spooked they are, and so considerations must be made in slaughter/processing facilities and all stages of handling and transport, to limit animals’ fear responses. Part of the apprehension toward horse slaughter comes from the use of abandoned, rejected, and/or retired animals from non-meat purposes. There is absolutely a role slaughter can play for these animals; in Alberta, it can cost upwards of $3,500 annually to maintain a horse and mature horses are a dominating population. However, for identical economic, welfare, and regulatory reasons as with other livestock species, healthy, meat-producing animals benefit horse slaughter best.
Since 2010, every horse destined for slaughter is required to have a veterinarian-signed Equine Information Document, verifying the animal has been free from illness, medications, and vaccinations for at least six months prior to slaughter. Included within these prohibitions is the zero-tolerance trace identification of phenylbutazone (“bute”): a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug in horses. This withdrawal period pairs nicely with the minimum six-month period on feedlots required for imported animals and prevents the over-saturation of the horse meat market with unwanted/surplus non-meat animals. Once at a slaughter facility, the owner of that processing plant is required to keep up to date on facility maintenance, employee/handler training, response planning, meat handling, and how to prevent adverse events along the slaughter supply chain. Then, assuming all provisions in the Safe Food for Canadians Act are followed, the product can be consumed by Canadians or transported to foreign markets.
For freshness and domestic animal welfare reasons, destination countries may prefer the live export route of the horse meat sector, opting to slaughter within their own borders. This is the fate of over 85% of Canada’s meat horses, and therefore subjects exporters to another set of air transport-specific welfare considerations about loading, handling, crate size, transport time, and animal travel companions. Transporters are also required to make checks on the animals every 30 minutes in the air, to guarantee crew responsiveness to any adverse travel effects on the animals. A violation of any transport or welfare standards can yield penalization from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA); at the time of writing, the CFIA has issued over 200 warnings or fines to Canadian animal handlers in 2025.
