# Canada makes hardship for Slaughter Horse dealers



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

After years of concern over drugs in horse meat, Canada hopes to eliminate drug residue in horse meat by requiring a 6 month hold time. Requiring Slaughter horse buyers to hold horses for 6 months before taking them to Canadian Slaughter plants. Lame or arthritic horses will be forced to wait, in pain, before headed to slaughter. Here is the report:


New Rule Tightens Canadian Horse Processing Imports
By Pat Raia
TheHorse.com
March 15, 2017

Beginning in March 31, all horses imported from the United States into horse processing plants in Canada must be held in U.S.-side feedlots for a minimum of six months. The regulation is intended to address food safety concerns expressed by European Union (EU) buyers.

While some equine welfare advocates hope the regulation will increase paperwork and decrease profits for exporters of horses into Canadian processing firms, others believe the rule won't reduce the number of horses exported for processing every year.

Under the new regulation, exporters must certify in writing that the U.S. horses exported into Canada for processing haven't received any drugs within the prior 60 days. But said horse welfare advocate Jerry Finch, founder of Habitat for Horses, the horse-processing industry has long had a reputation for falsifying paperwork connected to exported horses.


Full text:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/38935/new-rule-tightens-canadian-horse-processing-imports


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

Mexico just started clapping. Now they will get more horses to process and can open new, unregulated slaughter houses. And my little rescue operation is going to blow up with those horses the kill buyers abandon on dry lots because they can't move them to Canada. 

Hmmm. I don't know what to think about it all.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I know a few killer horse buyers/truckers. Hard to imagine how they'll care for hard keepers for 6 months.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Yeah, I sure don't see this one as being in the horses' best interests. 6 months? You look at beef drug withdrawal times and everything is 60 days or less.

Again I'm afraid another case of the do-gooders not having the best interests of the animals in mind - just furthering their political agenda.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Alder said:


> Yeah, I sure don't see this one as being in the horses' best interests. 6 months? You look at beef drug withdrawal times and everything is 60 days or less.
> 
> Again I'm afraid another case of the do-gooders not having the best interests of the animals in mind - just furthering their political agenda.


The regulations has nothing to do with animal rights activists. Horse meat is regularly shipped to the EU and Asia for consumption and it's the EU that has set the rules. Unlike the UK, north American horses are not raised for human consumption so they are concerned about medications and withdrawal times. They seem to be receiving meat from North America that is showing traces of Bute and that's where this all started. 

When I first heard of this, the EU actually wanted to only accept horses with long term vet records so they could establish actual drug withdrawal times but it's not something I would consider feasible because slaughter horses are typically bought at action and many horse owners diagnose and administer drugs. 

It doesn't strike me as a rule that's workable and I suspect it's going to create more problems than it solves but we were required to comply with their demands or they were simply going to decline our meat. 

I'm personally of the opinion that if an animal needs medication to get them comfortably to a slaughter house, they have no business being sold for human consumption.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

wr said:


> The regulations has nothing to do with animal rights activists. Horse meat is regularly shipped to the EU and Asia for consumption and it's the EU that has set the rules. Unlike the UK, north American horses are not raised for human consumption so they are concerned about medications and withdrawal times. They seem to be receiving meat from North America that is showing traces of Bute and that's where this all started.
> 
> When I first heard of this, the EU actually wanted to only accept horses with long term vet records so they could establish actual drug withdrawal times but it's not something I would consider feasible because slaughter horses are typically bought at action and many horse owners diagnose and administer drugs.
> 
> ...


I remember discussing this at least a couple years ago, it's been in the works awhile.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Irish Pixie said:


> I remember discussing this at least a couple years ago, it's been in the works awhile.


There was plenty of warning on this but I don't think anyone expected the length of delay before slaughter. It's really hard to find actual facts because any article I've read, with the exception of one in the Western Producer are less than objective and there seems to be a lot of finger pointing. 

With all the discussion that's been in place, I was quite surprised that the industry didn't try to incorporate their own regulations that would have prevented getting to this point.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

yall are making me hungry !  !  I think ive finally found a great use for a horse   ... just kidding id never ever eat a horse , then id have to admit I liked one  
in all seriousness though they should butcher the idiot that made this rule up ----instead of butchering an animal --hey lets torture it for 6 months ---then kill it .... hmmmm, maybe torture the idiot 6 months first ???


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

chaossmurf said:


> yall are making me hungry !  !  I think ive finally found a great use for a horse   ... just kidding id never ever eat a horse , then id have to admit I liked one
> in all seriousness though they should butcher the idiot that made this rule up ----instead of butchering an animal --hey lets torture it for 6 months ---then kill it .... hmmmm, maybe torture the idiot 6 months first ???


It's interesting that you're blaming regulations for an animal being in discomfort for an extended period of time when an owner should have done the right thing and put it down instead of expecting someone else to deal with their crippled up horse. If a horse is in that kind of discomfort, it shouldn't be put on a truck to Canada and once delivered, it's not right that someone in Canada or Europe should dine on meat marinated in bute, wormers and various other drugs. 

Would you feel the same if North American beef and pork producers were not honoring withdrawal periods and humans were left to eat the result? Would you feel safer knowing that Micotil, while being a favored treatment for some cattlemen, has actually killed a certain number of them. 

If the horse slaughter industry isn't going to regulate itself, someone else is certainly going to regulate it to ensure the meat is safe for human consumption.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Still, the recommended withdrawal on the drug lists I've found for beef are no more than 60 days. I really don't understand the 6 month thing.

If the Euro's don't want our horse meat, they should just say so.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

I was wondering if the other stuff in my post would get people to spam me && my attempt at trolling horse people totally failed --I mentioned eating a horse --hating horses ---butchering a politician --and torturing a politition !!!! and someone picks up on the simple fact that NOBODY should ever eat any meat that they are totlly clueless about where ,when and how it was caught -raised-treated-killed-butchered ???
please don't get me wrong I was going crazy trying not to make a post about eating horses in the equine section  just to troll a little bit ------AND I THANK YOU FOR DOING IT  and I can totally understand not being upset about torturing and butchering a politician ---but im surprised in this section ive gotten so many likes about a post where I mention eating the horse  ---yall made my day & THANK YOU AGAIN  
anyone feel like posting their favorite horse recipies ?
CHAOSSMURF


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Meh - not a troll as far as I'm concerned. I've been a horse owner/horseman all my life, but wouldn't be adverse to eating horsemeat. Just never had the opportunity, though it was in the back of my mind to try while on a short visit to Paris.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Alder said:


> Still, the recommended withdrawal on the drug lists I've found for beef are no more than 60 days. I really don't understand the 6 month thing.
> 
> If the Euro's don't want our horse meat, they should just say so.


I don't think it's a matter of not wanting your horse meat as much as the fact that they're finding traces of various drugs in their meat and they'd like it corrected. I've read quite a bit on the subject and there just isn't a whole lot of research into withdrawal periods on equine medications. 

Like yourself, I do feel that 6 months seems overly long but if the industry would have come up with some solid regulations before now, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have come to this.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

chaossmurf said:


> I was wondering if the other stuff in my post would get people to spam me && my attempt at trolling horse people totally failed --I mentioned eating a horse --hating horses ---butchering a politician --and torturing a politition !!!! and someone picks up on the simple fact that NOBODY should ever eat any meat that they are totlly clueless about where ,when and how it was caught -raised-treated-killed-butchered ???
> please don't get me wrong I was going crazy trying not to make a post about eating horses in the equine section  just to troll a little bit ------AND I THANK YOU FOR DOING IT  and I can totally understand not being upset about torturing and butchering a politician ---but im surprised in this section ive gotten so many likes about a post where I mention eating the horse  ---yall made my day & THANK YOU AGAIN
> anyone feel like posting their favorite horse recipies ?
> CHAOSSMURF


Apparently, you're referring to my response and quite honestly, my response did not indicate that NOBODY should ever eat meat that they are clueless about it's origins. My point was industry related and if the beef and pork industries are regulated, horse meat should be as well. 

As for your need to troll, I don't think it's working as well as you had hoped. Most horse owners are pretty philosophical about the fact that slaughter is a necessary part of the industry and while many have expressed their belief that they would not eat horse, they accept that others do.


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

so sorry WR -- I wasn't saying that " you " said nobody should eat meat they are clueless about --- that's all me  I was stating that fact ------and I agree the companies should have had self control ----but the 6 months is just going to lead to 6 month torture sessions for them horses , until the companies move operations to a new country to avoid the previous ones controls  ---its such a shame


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

chaossmurf said:


> so sorry WR -- I wasn't saying that " you " said nobody should eat meat they are clueless about --- that's all me  I was stating that fact ------and I agree the companies should have had self control ----but the 6 months is just going to lead to 6 month torture sessions for them horses , until the companies move operations to a new country to avoid the previous ones controls  ---its such a shame


I think the 6 month residency is overly long but I also feel that if a horse is in bad enough shape that it needs continual doses of bute to keep them going, they aren't fit for human consumption and need to be put down rather than being shipped for slaughter. 

Canadian horses generally spend time in feedlots before they're shipped for slaughter but usually for 90 days and I haven't been able to find much information on how they'll be affected because most articles I've read generally focus on the residency period for US horses. 

I would suspect that a lot more horses will be moved into Mexico for slaughter but I'm not sure if that will have much success because this regulation is EU driven.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

The EU un-sanctioned the Mexican slaughter plants because they couldn't get Mexico to comply


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

Sorry, I hit send post before I was done typing. 

Mexico is not regulated by the EU. They do what they want, regardless of horses fitness, or lack thereof. It is a sick thing here in Texas to see those haulers heading south with over packed trailers hauling pregnant, sick, thin, young, old...it's a terribly sad thing no matter what side of the argument you side on.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

haypoint said:


> I know a few killer horse buyers/truckers. Hard to imagine how they'll care for hard keepers for 6 months.


They wont, they'll either send them to Mexico, or falsify papers to get them into Canada....horses lose, either way


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

I fully understand why the regulations make it hard on horses but I'm still of the opinion that a large part of the blame for horses suffering lies on the shoulders of people who shouldn't have horses and aren't overly interested in doing the right thing and indiscriminate breeders.


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## crittermomma (Sep 26, 2013)

Alder said:


> Meh - not a troll as far as I'm concerned. I've been a horse owner/horseman all my life, but wouldn't be adverse to eating horsemeat. Just never had the opportunity, though it was in the back of my mind to try while on a short visit to Paris.


I eat meat - I said it. Would I try horse meat - perhaps. Just as long as it was NOT from my horses. I have threatened my children a fate worse than death if they EVER sell my horses if I die before they do. And my girls KNOW that momma would haunt them til the end of time if my horses ever went for slaughter. I agree there is a need - but people need to stop their back yard breeding - then a lot of this will stop!


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