Reining in misinformation on live horse exports: Senator Plett
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Photo caption: Senator Don Plett, right, stands in a field of horses with Don Grover, a producer from Alberta.
The threat of American tariffs has thrust Canada into significant economic uncertainty, and once again has underscored the Liberal government’s failure to prepare the country’s economy for the inevitable economic shocks. You would have thought the pandemic would have provided a wake-up call, but this is a government which made being “asleep at the switch” a job prerequisite.
Examples of this abound, but perhaps none so vividly as the government’s commitment to destroy a lucrative export market for no good reason when they campaigned in 2021 on a promise to “ban the live export of horses for slaughter.” Instead of taking the time to properly understand the industry, they opportunistically took ownership of an emotional issue which has been rife with misinformation, exaggeration and emotional manipulation.
As the Senate critic of Bill C-355, An Act to Prohibit the Export by Air of Horses for Slaughter and to Make Related Amendments to Certain Acts, I made it a priority to observe firsthand how the industry works from one end to the other. I met with farmers, feedlot owners, animal rights groups, veterinarians, animal transportation experts, exporters and more. I visited feedlots to observe the loading process, followed the trucks to the airport, and watched as the horses were loaded into crates and then onto the plane. At every stage, I examined the claims made by animal rights activists and found them to be full of distortions and misrepresentations.
Here are just a few of them:
Myth: The horses are “crammed” into crates for shipping.
Fact: The horses have ample room and can move around freely. In fact, horses exported for slaughter have more space and freedom of movement than those transported for other purposes.
Myth: Sport horses travel with attendants, but export horses do not.
Fact: All flights have a qualified attendant flying with the horses, regardless of why they are being transported. This is a mandatory airline requirement when transporting any livestock.
Myth: The 28-hour regulatory limit during which horses are permitted to be transported without food, water and rest is often exceeded.
Fact: Exceeding the 28-hour regulatory limit is extremely rare. Animal activists admit to arriving at their timelines by relying on their own inflated estimates rather than documented transportation times.
Myth: When the horses are loaded and unloaded, they are prodded violently with metal poles.
Fact: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) notes that “transporters use foam pool noodles and flexible poles with rags on the end to start horses down a ramp into the crates. Prods are not used and any physical contact with the horses does not inflict pain or suffering.”
Myth: Horses transported by air are dying at an alarming rate.
Fact: As the CFIA notes, “between 2013 and 2020 there were approximately 40,000 horses exported to Japan, with three deaths during transport in Canada and two deaths in Japan reported to the CFIA.”
Myth: Air transportation is more dangerous for the health of export horses than those transported for sport, breeding or show.
Fact: Studies show that up to 20% of horses transported long distances in jet stalls develop shipping fever. In comparison, only 9% of export horses experience this condition.
This list is not exhaustive, but the facts are clear: Bill C-355 was based on misinformation and misleading claims. Despite claiming to address animal welfare, Bill C-355 would have made it illegal to transport horses by air only if their end use was human consumption. The same horses could still have been transported the same way under the same conditions to the same destination for any other purpose. The legislation was not about animal welfare, but rather a tool of animal activists who are ideologically opposed to the human consumption of horse meat.
While some may find the idea of raising horses for livestock distasteful, it is a long-standing and common practice in Canada and around the world. Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of more than 1 billion people in 77 countries worldwide and is a legitimate part of our agricultural trade. As our current trade challenges have reminded us, we should be strengthening Canadian export markets, not undermining them on the basis of political opportunism and unsound evidence.
Note to readers: The Honourable Donald Neil Plett retired from the Senate of Canada in May 2025. Learn more about his work in Parliament.
This article appeared in the March 24, 2025 edition of The Hill Times.
Photo caption: Senator Don Plett, right, stands in a field of horses with Don Grover, a producer from Alberta.
The threat of American tariffs has thrust Canada into significant economic uncertainty, and once again has underscored the Liberal government’s failure to prepare the country’s economy for the inevitable economic shocks. You would have thought the pandemic would have provided a wake-up call, but this is a government which made being “asleep at the switch” a job prerequisite.
Examples of this abound, but perhaps none so vividly as the government’s commitment to destroy a lucrative export market for no good reason when they campaigned in 2021 on a promise to “ban the live export of horses for slaughter.” Instead of taking the time to properly understand the industry, they opportunistically took ownership of an emotional issue which has been rife with misinformation, exaggeration and emotional manipulation.
As the Senate critic of Bill C-355, An Act to Prohibit the Export by Air of Horses for Slaughter and to Make Related Amendments to Certain Acts, I made it a priority to observe firsthand how the industry works from one end to the other. I met with farmers, feedlot owners, animal rights groups, veterinarians, animal transportation experts, exporters and more. I visited feedlots to observe the loading process, followed the trucks to the airport, and watched as the horses were loaded into crates and then onto the plane. At every stage, I examined the claims made by animal rights activists and found them to be full of distortions and misrepresentations.
Here are just a few of them:
Myth: The horses are “crammed” into crates for shipping.
Fact: The horses have ample room and can move around freely. In fact, horses exported for slaughter have more space and freedom of movement than those transported for other purposes.
Myth: Sport horses travel with attendants, but export horses do not.
Fact: All flights have a qualified attendant flying with the horses, regardless of why they are being transported. This is a mandatory airline requirement when transporting any livestock.
Myth: The 28-hour regulatory limit during which horses are permitted to be transported without food, water and rest is often exceeded.
Fact: Exceeding the 28-hour regulatory limit is extremely rare. Animal activists admit to arriving at their timelines by relying on their own inflated estimates rather than documented transportation times.
Myth: When the horses are loaded and unloaded, they are prodded violently with metal poles.
Fact: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) notes that “transporters use foam pool noodles and flexible poles with rags on the end to start horses down a ramp into the crates. Prods are not used and any physical contact with the horses does not inflict pain or suffering.”
Myth: Horses transported by air are dying at an alarming rate.
Fact: As the CFIA notes, “between 2013 and 2020 there were approximately 40,000 horses exported to Japan, with three deaths during transport in Canada and two deaths in Japan reported to the CFIA.”
Myth: Air transportation is more dangerous for the health of export horses than those transported for sport, breeding or show.
Fact: Studies show that up to 20% of horses transported long distances in jet stalls develop shipping fever. In comparison, only 9% of export horses experience this condition.
This list is not exhaustive, but the facts are clear: Bill C-355 was based on misinformation and misleading claims. Despite claiming to address animal welfare, Bill C-355 would have made it illegal to transport horses by air only if their end use was human consumption. The same horses could still have been transported the same way under the same conditions to the same destination for any other purpose. The legislation was not about animal welfare, but rather a tool of animal activists who are ideologically opposed to the human consumption of horse meat.
While some may find the idea of raising horses for livestock distasteful, it is a long-standing and common practice in Canada and around the world. Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of more than 1 billion people in 77 countries worldwide and is a legitimate part of our agricultural trade. As our current trade challenges have reminded us, we should be strengthening Canadian export markets, not undermining them on the basis of political opportunism and unsound evidence.
Note to readers: The Honourable Donald Neil Plett retired from the Senate of Canada in May 2025. Learn more about his work in Parliament.
This article appeared in the March 24, 2025 edition of The Hill Times.