The Suffering of Horses Caught Up In The Slaughter Pipeline Continues

January 2025

Over the years, the CHDC has shared countless pages of documentation that demonstrate the heartless and brutal disregard for the welfare of horses once they have entered the “slaughter pipeline”.

Little has changed in that regard.

Newly obtained records reveal three instances in which horses exported from the United States perished during transit or following their arrival at the slaughter plant, a horse breaking their leg at the slaughter plant, and a horse injured while being transported to a slaughter plant on a dangerous trailer.

 

Currently, there are two federally licensed equine slaughter plants in Canada – Viande Richelieu Inc./Richelieu Meat Inc., Massueville, QC and Bouvry Exports Calgary Ltd., Fort Macleod, AB.

 

January 18, 2024 Incident: Horse fractures leg

In January, 2024 a non-compliance letter was sent to (redacted) advising their PCP (Preventive Control Plan) was ineffective for controlling the humane handling issue related to a horse sustaining a broken leg and not being euthanized immediately. They were told there were reasonable grounds to believe there had been contraventions of sections of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and cautioned that failure to take corrective action by January 25 may lead to subsequent enforcement actions, including license suspension, administrative monetary penalty or recommendation for prosecution.

January 18, 2024

13:09: A CFIA inspector observed the stunning of a horse who was reluctant to enter the second part of the knocking box (with the stainless steel floor) and remained on the concrete. An employee mentioned they noticed the horse standing on three legs and could see the back left leg was broken (the LHL tarsal bone was fully fractured). The horse was euthanized immediately.

The CFIA entered the barn and examined the ally where the horse had come from and observed visible blood pooling in each of three stages of the alley and two areas in the tub. CFIA interviewed __________, who didn’t know what happened.

13:16: CFIA stopped the line as the horse was now shackled, bled and almost at the leggers. The employee who was responsible for the animal’s care was interviewed; it was thought that the horse had a cut or broken hoof from getting caught in the door but they didn’t know the leg was broken. The line was allowed to continue and slaughter after the operator replaced the employee with other trained animal handlers.     

The inspection identified non-compliances under:

Safe Food for Canadians Act: SFCA /10/

Safe Food for Canadians Regulations: SFCR 75, 88,128, 130(2)(3)(4)(a)

No further details about the outcome were provided.

February 14, 2024

While three horses were observed as they were unloaded from a trailer, one black horse was found to have a cut on the back of the left hind leg and was limping. Upon inspection, a large hunting camping stove in the trailer was found to be smeared with blood. There was blood on the trailer floor and smeared on the right side wall and door.

Damage was found on the trailer wall near the door opening, along with a hole with jagged edges in the metal. Hair was adhered to the jagged edge with blood smeared around the damaged area. 

In an interview with redacted  it was disclosed that the damage and hole in the wall was caused when trailer was in an accident one year ago,  ______ also stated that he did not receive the information package including information on EIDs (Equine Information Document).

 

A letter of non-compliance was issued for violations of sections of the Health of Animals Regulations:

150(1)(f)

150(1)(g)

150(3)

138

138.1

138.3(1)

138.3(2)

Three deaths of horses imported from the United States for immediate slaughter were reported between January and August, 2024. 

Date of entry: February 22, 2024

  • Number of animals declared: 25
  • One horse died
  • Date slaughtered: February 23, 2024 (24 horses)

Date of entry: April 2, 2024

  • Number of animals declared: 25
  • one horse died
  • Date slaughtered: April 5, 2024 (24 horses)

Date of entry: August 21, 2024

  • Number of animals declared: 27
  • One horse died
  • Date slaughtered: August 23, 2024 (26 horses)

Various other non-compliances were found during inspections including:

  • Horse fat sample found non-compliant to Dioxins/PCB – Upper Bound PCDD Violation above action level

 

  • During an on-site inspection of a cooler, 3 horse side carcasses exhibited fecal contamination of the bung area. Additionally, one side carcass was found to have an attached piece of hide on the same area. This was in contravention of SFCR sections 47 (1)(2) and 88.

 

To learn more about horse slaughter and the live horse shipments abroad for slaughter, please visit our websiteblogarchived blog and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, InstagramYouTube , Vimeo, and Bluesky.

You can also write to us at info@defendhorsescanada.org