WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Horses have forever been admired, featured prominently in popular children’s books and television programs, noted for being sleek, majestic, poetry in motion. But they also have a high level of emotional intelligence. A University of Sussex study found that horses can read emotional cues from our facial expressions, not only recognizing human emotions, but also deeply absorbing them.

It can be jarring then, to know that Canada slaughters roughly 25,000 horses annually and is one of the top exporters of horse meat in the world, with an annual revenue of roughly $80 million.

Canada’s horse exportation industry ships from 3,000-5,000 horses annually. (Canada has exported more than 40,000 draft horses since 2013.)

Draft horses bred specifically for exportation are shipped out from Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. This, despite the fact that more than two-thirds of Canadians are against exporting live horses for slaughter, according to Manitoba Animal Save, an animal advocacy organization. The Liberal Party committed to banning the practice in its September 2021 election campaign but, as of yet, nothing has changed.

“They are terrified, subject to turbulence and air pressure changes and some may fall during turbulence or take off, and be trampled by their crate mates, unable to escape. They cannot move around; they cannot lay down.”

Tonge recalls a recent horse shipment from Winnipeg in which travel time had exceeded more than 30 hours. Three horses were found down in their crate upon arrival in Japan. There have been several documented incidents of injured or dead horses on flights from Canada to Japan.