Since the early 2000s, Canada has become one of the world’s top exporters of live horses for slaughter. Horses from Manitoba and Alberta feedlots are shipped by air primarily to Japan, where they are fattened in crowded feedlots and butchered after a few months to be consumed as a delicacy. According to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reports, over 1,200 horses were shipped overseas from Canada in the first quarter of 2024 alone. Despite exporting over 2,500 live horses annually, this industry operates with little public visibility. The CFIA reports that horses are purpose-bred for the overseas market, although some horses are rumoured to be surplus animals from other industries. Horses exported to Japan are of various types, but most are draft breeds, such as Belgians or Percherons, which Japanese importers are said to prefer.
Several horse feedlots that keep or collect horses for live export operate in Alberta, where most live exports originate. We Animals photojournalists documented one of these locations, which contained hundreds of horses visible from either side of a public road. The horses lived in scores of numbered dirt pens containing large hay feeders that stretched to the property’s far reaches near a forest edge. The horses varied in type, size, and age. A large percentage were draft horses, appearing to be predominantly Belgian breeds, with their characteristic sorrel and blond coloration and other draft and light horses of indeterminate breeding. The animals bore large numbered identification brands, and many horses corralled near a loading area were fitted with thin shipping halters made of rope. By the afternoon, a roadside corral crowded with horses earlier in the day was empty.
Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals
The Animals in War Memorial, Ottawa, commemorates horses for their service to our country during times of war. If we are meant to celebrate and show respect for these magnificent animals, then why do we slaughter them in Canada and also transport them overseas to Japan and S. Korea for slaughter? Read more
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