Bill 22, the Animal Protection Amendment Act, was tabled in the provincial legislature on March 30 by RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. The act was last updated in 2006.

“Alberta is an agricultural province, and the protection of all our animals is vital to our communities,” Sigurdson said during a press conference. “Whether it’s livestock on a farm or pets, they deserve to receive appropriate care and be protected from distress.”

The bill proposes dozens of changes, from administrative updates that align the act with other Alberta and Canadian legislation to substantive new enforcement tools and a broadened legal framework for animal welfare.

WHY IT MATTERS: Alberta’s Animal Protection Act hasn’t been updated since 2006. Bill 22 proposes the most significant overhaul in two decades — expanding the legal definition of distress beyond food, water, shelter and veterinary care to include natural behaviours, raising maximum fines from just over $20,000 to $250,000, and making Alberta the first province to enforce animal welfare restriction orders from other jurisdictions. For livestock producers already meeting high standards of animal welfare, the changes formalize expectations that are largely already in practice — but they also sharpen the legal consequences for those who fall short.

Tougher penalties and cross-provincial enforcement

The new bill proposes a major increase in maximum fines for breaching the act — from just over $20,000 to $250,000 — and allows for jail sentences of up to 12 months.

If the legislation is passed, Sigurdson said Alberta will also become the first province to enforce animal welfare restriction orders issued in other jurisdictions.

“If a court in another province or territory has restricted or prohibited an individual from owning or living with animals, we’ll be able to enforce that order right here in our province. The change will ensure people won’t be able to evade these orders and potentially re-offend right here in our province,” he said. “We are the first province to take this step, and I hope our leadership can inspire other jurisdictions to follow suit.”

“It was clear to us that if offenders were offending in other provinces, that those enforcement orders should be enforced here in the province of Alberta. We’re taking this as an opportunity to lead the country in this area to make sure repeat offenders can’t just move province to province and continue to offend,” Sigurdson continued.

Expanded definition of distress

The concept of distress has been broadened significantly under the proposed amendments.

“I guess currently the concept of distress is limited to food, water, shelter and veterinary care, but we all know animals have other needs that should be met, like the ability to move around naturally and the ability to be in a safe environment,” said Leanne Niblock, executive director of the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The new proposed legislation will cover unsanitary and unsafe conditions and circumstances that lead to distressed animal behaviour, such as leaving a horse alone in a box stall when it is displaying anxious behaviour such as pacing.

The definition of distress will be broadened to include opportunities for exercise and the expression of natural behaviours, said Niblock. This is fundamental to good animal welfare, and the inclusion of this expanded definition is vital.

Amendments will prohibit causing or allowing an animal to remain in distress and set out duties for animal owners and caregivers.

Modernized inspection powers

As the animal protection framework becomes more robust, peace officers need the right tools to relieve distress and resolve issues effectively and efficiently, Sigurdson explained.

The proposed changes will give peace officers the power to intervene or remove animals from harmful situations. The government is also planning to modernize inspection authorities and expand them to include businesses serving the public, such as boarding and grooming facilities.

“Oversight mechanisms and safeguards are in place to ensure peace officers’ actions are lawful and appropriate, and any concerns about the actions or conducts of a peace officer can be formally reviewed through existing processes,” Sigurdson said.

Framework built through consultation

The proposed changes were developed through consultation with animal protection agencies, government groups, livestock industry groups, veterinarians, Indigenous groups and municipalities in May and June 2025.

Megan Bergman, registrar for the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, said having a framework that keeps pace with the realities of veterinarians, technologists and animal welfare partners will ensure animals receive appropriate and timely care, particularly in challenging situations.

The changes will close gaps in responding to animals in distress, strengthen enforcement tools and provide appropriate flexibility for veterinary professionals.

Ineffective legislation leaves animals in distress, said the Alberta SPCA’s Niblock.

“Our vision is that every animal is treated humanely, and we can’t do this without strong laws empowering us. Seeing meaningful revisions made to the Animal Protection Act has been one of our organization’s top priorities,” she said.

“Modernized legislation and strong enforcement will position our province as a leader in animal welfare,” she said.

“Our enforcement team stands ready to implement these changes and build on this progress to keep animals safe in Alberta.”

Niblock expects to get more calls as people become more knowledgeable about the act and understand the expanded definition of distress.

Those who are concerned about an animal welfare case can contact the distress line at 1-800-455-9003 or the Alberta SPCA.

The post Alberta proposes sweeping changes to Animal Protection Act appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Images and video consultations allow veterinarians to assess cases remotely, provide guidance and help owners make timely decisions when real-time visits or travel aren’t possible.

From managing chronic lameness to monitoring recovery, video has become an invaluable tool.

Yet telemedicine also highlights the limitations of what can truly be observed through a screen, and the lesson extends far beyond veterinary practice.

Telemedicine videos are a remarkable resource. They allow professionals to provide guidance across distances, evaluate visible injuries and monitor healing progress without immediate travel. They also empower owners to better understand horses and manage care.

What video can’t show

Even as a professional trained to read subtle signs of health, movement and behaviour, I’ve found that images and videos are snapshots.

Subtle lameness can be hidden by lighting, camera angles or the horse’s brief effort during filming. Muscular tension, uneven weight-bearing or hoof imbalances may go unnoticed.

Behavioural cues such as stress responses, reluctance or nervous energy often don’t translate through video, especially if the horse is made to ”perform” for the camera.

What appears perfect for a few minutes on video can tell a very different story when the horse is observed throughout its daily life.

At times, the information not relayed through technology can unknowingly change outcomes.

Even the most experienced veterinarian cannot rely on video alone. Subtle valuable information such as gait irregularities, tension in the back or limb, or inconsistent behaviour can be missed.

Video is inherently selective, capturing only a fraction of a horse’s reality. While telemedicine is a critical tool, it serves as an introduction to information — not a replacement for first-hand observation.

Horse buyer beware

If professionals cannot fully depend on video for nuanced assessment, horse owners should also be cautious when evaluating a horse for purchase, training or partnership.

Videos, whether part of telemedicine, online sales or training demonstrations, are compelling. They offer convenience, highlight desirable traits and create a sense of immediacy.

Yet no matter how polished or persuasive, they cannot fully represent the living, breathing animal behind the screen.

Online sales videos operate on similar principles.

They are crafted to present a horse at its best, moving fluidly, responding to cues, and often appearing temperamentally perfect.

Editing, camera angles and selective clips enhance this perception. Music and narration can create an emotional pull, further influencing the viewer’s impression.

However, just like telemedicine videos, sales clips are inherently limited. They cannot fully capture a horse’s daily behaviour and temperament, such as how it responds to strangers, interacts with the herd or manages routine stressors.

Subtle soundness issues such as slight lameness, stiffness, hoof imbalances or dental issues may not appear in just a few minutes of footage.

Likewise, management and environmental factors, including turnout, footing and daily care, profoundly influence a horse’s performance and well-being but are often invisible on video.

Even the horse’s emotional energy and connection are difficult to convey. How it relates to humans, responds to attention or communicates discomfort cannot be fully understood from a screen.

Even an honest video tells only part of the story.

A horse may perform well in a filmed moment but behave differently in daily life.

Tips for horse owners

Just as telemedicine videos are a starting point for veterinarians, sales videos need to be considered introductions for potential owners, not complete evaluations.

Owners can take practical steps to bridge the gap between video and reality.

Begin by asking detailed questions about the horse’s daily routine, health history and any previous injuries.

Whenever possible, observe the horse first-hand and consider multiple visits, which allow you to see how the horse responds in different contexts and assess consistency.

Pay close attention to interactions, such as how the horse engages with humans, other horses and its environment because these can reveal important information about temperament and emotional health.

In addition, take a page from veterinarians, who are often particular about the footage they request. Don’t hesitate to ask for specific views, movements or conditions on video, such as trotting in-hand on varied footing, standing square from all angles or lifting feet for inspection in order to gain the most informative perspective before committing to a visit.

Finally, recognize the limitations of video. No clip can substitute for firsthand experience and the tactile assessment that comes from being with the horse in real time.

Video can be a valuable tool without letting it dictate decisions.

Just as veterinarians rely on telemedicine for guidance while recognizing its limits, buyers and horse enthusiasts are best served by treating marketing videos as introductions rather than guarantees.

A horse is more than a highlight reel. It’s health, soundness and temperament are shaped by daily life, environment and interactions that no clip can fully capture. For veterinarians and prospective owners alike, video is a powerful starting point — but never a substitute for being there.

The post Telemedicine is a powerful vet tool — but it has blind spots appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Alexandra Harlander is a professor in the department of animal biosciences at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College.

Her appointment as research chair in poultry welfare is part of a $1.3 million investment to ensure research at the university, “continues to guide animal care standards and inform management decisions” according to a Feb. 26 news release.

Harlander’s research focuses on understanding hen behaviour across different housing systems. Her work has contributed to the National Farm Animal Care Council’s codes of practice, the release said. She has also contributed to several industry programs, including a national feather-scoring system.

“True animal care is shared care. It includes the hens, the farmers and the farm families in every barn across the country,” Harlander said in the news release.

“I strive to develop practical, science-based solutions that benefit the birds and the well-being of the people who care for them,” she said. “I look forward to working directly with farmers and their birds to address the challenges they face.”

Harlander succeeds Tina Widowski, who held the chair since 2011.

The post Egg Farmers of Canada, University of Guelph appoint new poultry welfare research chair appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“We would be very arrogant if we said we were the first to take a holistic approach and see our connection to our life-supporting environment,” 90-year-old Allan Savory, who splits his time between Zimbabwe and his home in Florida, said during a virtual question-and-answer session.

“As far as I know, every single Indigenous culture in every part of the world saw that. So that’s been seen for 50,000 years by humans. It was only lost in modern Western science the last two or three centuries. The common example that’s given is Native American tribes seeing the damage to the environment. They didn’t have laws, they didn’t have regulations, but they had to do some customs.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Taking a different approach from traditional agricultural practices can help move the world to better land management.

The holistic principle for grazing livestock builds on the concept of rotational grazing.

Cattle can rehabilitate degraded land by mimicking the natural grazing patterns of wild herds of herbivores as they escaped predators while packed in large herds and frequently moving between different areas.

High animal impact over shorter grazing periods gives the land time to make a full recovery before being grazed again.

The animals are used to to break soil crust, trampling older material to build cover and using manure and urine as fertilizer.

Creating conditions that favour perennial grasses and forbs, if done correctly, can produce denser, deeper-rooted grasses, better biodiversity and water infiltration to go with higher carry capacity over time.

The triple bottom line

Savory has seen it all: farming and ranching, consulting in five countries and working as an ecologist, wildlife game officer, public servant, solider and member of Parliament.

Many livestock producers at the conference swear by the principles drafted by Savory as he formed the foundation for the Savory Institute in the United States.

He noticed that areas where animals had been excluded were degrading worse than areas that had been grazed and then allowed to rest.

It led to a significant breakthrough in understanding what was causing the degradation and desertification of the world’s grasslands and planted seeds of holistic management.

A holistic approach combines the principles of life and family (time, stress, purpose, succession), economics (profitability, cash flow, debt, investment choices) and land and animals (biodiversity, soil, water cycle, animal health).

The link between finance and stewardship

Savory stresses that producers cannot just “manage the land” while ignoring other tenants. A short-term, ultra-aggressive profit motive can destroy soil health, but a “green” practice that improves the ecology but bankrupts the movement has no staying power.

“If you can’t finance your family, everything else doesn’t matter. Men commit suicide when they can’t support their families. So you manage a family, then you manage the economy. Only then do you manage nature, your farm, the ocean, whatever you’re managing there to produce every single form of food and everything that makes civilization possible,” he said.

“You can’t divide these, they have to be managed simultaneously and indivisibly. There is no chance of anywhere in the world, the same family, the same family values, the same culture, the same economy they’re operating in, or the same climate piece of land being replicated. That’s why holistic management is so unique to every single farm and family.”

Grassroots growth amidst global challenges

In a paper by Deb Stinner at Ohio State University, she talked to ranchers and farmers who trained under Savory. All but one saw an increase in biodiversity in the first year, while the average of all of those farms was a 300 per cent increase in profit. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people in farm families went broke in the same markets.

Nevertheless, the world has been slow to implement holistic management, despite the formation of organizations such as those in Canada.

Savory applauded the efforts of the producers in the room who have adapted the holistic principles to their operations, adding it will be the producers themselves who lead the movement from the grassroots into a global consciousness rather than top-down action by government.

In the 1980s, Savory was set to help train 18,000 people in the U.S. forest service with his holistic management foundations, but the initiative was cancelled.

“What we’ve seen is since then, global biodiversity loss get far worse, desertification, as a consequence of it, get far worse. Accelerating climate change get far worse. All of those feeding on each other now in a feedback loop going out of control,” said Savory, who just published a memoir, Unsavory: African Stories of Wildlife, War, and the Birth of Holistic Management.

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WHY IT MATTERS: Calves are worth much more money than they were five years ago, so taking extra care of calves is not only an animal welfare imperative, but a financial one as well.

Dave Renaud, an associate professor at the University of Guelph, told the recent Dairy at Guelph research day that diarrhea costs an average dairy farm $28,000 per year, and that of 100 calves that contract diarrhea, five to 29 of those will die.

Renaud went through several best practices for calves when they are seen to have diarrhea.

Don’t worry about which pathogen caused the diarrhea. Olivia Gibson, a masters student in Renaud’s lab looked at coronavirus, cryptosporidium and rotavirus and found that resolution happens at the same rate. Salmonella cases take a big longer, but not longer enough to warrant special treatment. Similarly, treatment doesn’t change if the calf is affected by multiple pathogens.

Fluids are critical

“We really need to give this calf fluid, because it’s losing a lot of fluid every single day,” says Renaud. Risk of mortality is reduced significantly.

Research in Guelph professor Mike Steele’s lab showed that a 50 kg calf can be losing two litres of fluid per day due to diarrhea.

A challenge for farmers yet is that there’s little known about what the best electrolyte solution is for calves. Be cautious of electrolytes that are hypertonic as these can exacerbate problems with dehydration, but creating osmotic pressure pulling fluids into the rumen and make diarrhea problems worse, he says.

Calves need intravenous (IV) fluids when their eyes are recessed and they can’t stand. Don’t give up on calves, he says, as IV fluids can have a quick and powerful effect.

Alleviate pain and inflammation

There’s good research that supports treating calves with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory at the onset of diarrhea, says Renaud. Research shows that calves get better faster, and also improves their ability to consume grain and water when treated with Meloxicam.

Antibiotics as a last resort

Research has shown that not all calves need antibiotics to recover from diarrhea. In fact, “There’s very few cases of diarrhea that truly need it,” says Renaud. About 30 per cent of calves have levels of bacteria in their bloodstream that says they need antibiotics.

If the calves are bright and alert, Renaud says they don’t need antibiotics. However, if the calf is dull and inactive, then it’s more likely that they’ll need antibiotics. It’s a bit of an unknown whether calves with fever and blood in their stools need antibiotics.

Recent research has shown that an treatment based on an evidence-based algorithm showed that targeting calves with antibiotics meant they recovered quicker than calves that had been all treated with antibiotics.

“We need to be really smart and strategic about when we’re providing antibiotics to ensure we’re doing at the right time.”

Colostrum therapy could be an alternative

Research in Renaud’s lab by Havie Carter looked at feed colostrum to calves with diarrhea. Her study included a control group, a colostrum fed group and a group fed half colostrum, half milk replacer. There were also calves that were feed four feedings of colostrum and some fed eight.

Calves fed the larger amount of colostrum recovered two days earlier and weighed more than the control group at 56 days after onset of diarrhea. The control group also had 14 per cent mortality, while the colostrum-fed calves had none.

The post Best tactics for dairy calf diarrhea appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Darren Vanstone, an animal welfare advocate and managing director of Ocatra, spoke at the Humane Canada One Health One Welfare Conference in Ottawa.

He said animal agriculture should be approached as what it is — a complex system of individuals and businesses. Not everything can be easily changed.

Clear direction needed

Vanstone said activists must have a clear, simple message to get through to people and businesses. Without a specific ask, efforts can sometimes backfire.

For example, in 2002, Humane World for Animals, or HSUS had a campaign that led to sow stalls being banned in Florida in 2008 — the first such ban in the U.S.

“They needed to have a very simple ask, right? They chose group housing. But they actually didn’t provide any other direction around that.”

Without clear direction, the advocacy resulted in change but ended up making some aspects of animal welfare worse.

“We said, ‘get them into group housing.’ They got them into group housing,” Vanstone said. “And the current standard operating procedures is …16 square feet, right? So, two extra square feet for animals that were already too big.”

“They also don’t have the protection of the bars now, and they don’t have any enrichments and they are all hungry because we’re not feeding them and when we are, we’re feeding them liquid.”

“So theoretically, what we’ve done is actually made that a lot worse.”

The campaign was effective in pushing for change, Vanstone said in a later email conversation, however “the early adopters are either going to lose their market (for example, to Prop 12-compliant producers) or be forced to undergo additional renovations to barns they reworked less than 10 years ago.”

Proposition 12, or Prop 12, is a 2018 California ballot initiative that mandates meat and eggs sold in California must come from animals raised in compliance with the state’s welfare regulations, which affect space allotments for sows. It mandates that sows much have at least 24 square feet of space.

Incremental change

Vanstone said advocates may need to accept that the system may never be perfect in their eyes. Producing enough food for a country the size of Canada while maintaining significant exports could make inevitable some degree of danger, environmental damage and animal harm.

“I would say that ultimately, the decisions that we make, the cost and benefits, we just need to figure out that we’re distributing those equally,” he said.

He suggested focusing on changing one thing at a time rather than looking for a “silver bullet.”

“There will be a lot of times that you will realize that you’ve not picked the right spot, and then you can go back and redo it,” Vanstone said. “Really complex systems like the food system are dynamic, and they learn and they change. So, what you do now may not work again later.”

“When we’re talking about changing things at the structure, at the core, where things actually happen, a single, small change in there will have massive impact.”

One of the best ways to drive change is to address problems at their root and understand which players don’t have as much skin in the game. If advocates can find a root cause of multiple impacts, they don’t have to worry about the technical issues.

“You let the technical people solve the technical parts. This is where you set long-term goals and ambitions, and you do it across a broad stakeholder group.”

The post Bring focused approach to target systems, not producers says animal activist appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Early in my veterinary career, I heard them speak of “soft bones” and the patience needed when starting a young horse.

Their wisdom, passed down through generations, came not from textbooks but from a lifetime of working with horses.

It took years of hands-on experience for me to connect that old-world knowledge with modern science.

“Soft bones” are what we now call open growth plates — fragile seams of cartilage where bone is still forming and strengthening. Those horsemen understood an essential truth: pushing a young horse before its skeleton is ready can cause harm that lasts a lifetime, and ultimately result in the early breakdown of these colts and fillies.

While all animals have growth plates, horses are unique among domestic species in what we ask of them at a young age.

We expect them to carry riders, jump, turn sharply and perform athletic manoeuvres before their skeletons are fully knit together.

These demands often come when their bodies are still actively developing, especially in the deepest structural parts of the skeleton.

Understanding growth plates is not an academic exercise — it is the foundation for a horse’s long-term soundness and athletic potential.

Today, many horses are started under saddle at just two years old, some as early as 18 months — long before major growth plates, particularly in the spine and pelvis, have closed.

By contrast, traditional horsemen often waited until four years or more before beginning intensive training. They may not have had scientific explanations, but they had seen the damage caused by working a young horse “while the bones were still ‘soft’.”

The modern shift toward earlier training has happened without fully considering the horse’s biological readiness, and the consequences are increasingly visible.

Growth plates are regions of cartilage within bones that enable growth and later ossify into solid bone. This cartilage forms the critical scaffolding for skeletal development but remains soft, pliable and highly vulnerable to mechanical stress — especially in large, weight-bearing animals such as horses.

Forces such as weight, torque, shear and repeated impact placed on immature growth plates can cause permanent change in bone structure.

Once a growth plate is injured, the damage is often irreversible. The bone may fuse unevenly or prematurely, compromising its strength and alignment.

This can lead to chronic pain, compensatory movement patterns, neurological issues and, in severe cases, early retirement, sometimes before the horse reaches full physical maturity.

Most attention in equine development focuses on the more accessible growth plates of the limbs.

The racing industry, for instance, commonly uses the closure of the distal radius (the “knees”) around two to 2.5 years of age as a benchmark for skeletal maturity.

However, this standard is misleading.

The reliance on radiographic evidence stems primarily from older studies focused on the distal radius closure as a sign of readiness.

However, more recent research reveals that many critical growth plates, especially those deeper within the pelvis, spine and other core structures, remain open well beyond this age, often into the horse’s fifth or sixth year and even longer in some individuals. These findings highlight a significant gap between longstanding industry practices and current scientific understanding.

The deeper, less visible growth plates located in the pelvis, sacrum, lumbar spine, hocks, and cervical vertebrae mature much later. These internal structures provide the horse’s core foundation, strength, balance and ability to carry weight efficiently, yet they remain under-studied, rarely imaged and are largely unaccounted for in training protocols and veterinary assessments.

Externally, a young horse may look mature — tall, muscled and well-proportioned — but inside, vital load-bearing structures may still be developing.

Training that seems “appropriate” based on appearance can, in fact, be overloading tissues that are not yet ready for sustained stress.

The signs of growth plate strain or injury can be subtle, nuanced and easily misinterpreted.

A horse may not limp or display obvious pain, but may instead resist certain movements, appear unwilling to go forward, show persistent tension or develop vague, shifting lameness that evade diagnosis and respond poorly to therapies.

Such signs are often misread as behavioural problems or minor physical issues, when they may be early warnings of deeper skeletal compromise.

The cost of early skeletal trauma is high. Beyond the physical toll on the horse, there is the emotional and financial burden for owners managing chronic conditions, such as paying for repeated diagnostics and treatments or facing the premature loss of a horse’s athletic career.

By understanding growth plate development in the horse, owners and trainers can make informed choices that respect the horse’s natural developmental timeline.

This means matching workloads and training intensity to the horse’s stage of skeletal maturity rather than to its physical appearance or the demands of the industry.

Growth plate education is an essential part of good stewardship, protecting a horse’s opportunity for a sound, productive and pain-free life, but true change demands more than awareness. It calls for the courage to challenge outdated practices and place the horse’s biological reality above traditional expectations.

Growth plates offer no second chances: once damaged, full skeletal integrity can never be restored. The silver lining is that this outcome is entirely preventable.

The post Ignoring growth plates sabotages young horse development appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Canadian horses, swine and ruminants returning to Canada will not be able to enter Canada after a stay in a VS-infected state in the last 21 days,” stated a CFIA release.

WHY IT MATTERS: Transmitted by black flies, sand flies and biting midges, VSV resembles the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, causing mild fever and blister or crusting lesions inside the mouth, on the ears, lips, nose, udder, sheath, and above the hooves in horses, ruminants, swine, and members of the llama and deer families.

In October, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed VSV outbreaks on two farms in Arizona involving horses. The facilities also housed cattle that were not clinically affected.

The virus has an incubation period of two to eight days, and full recovery occurs in three to four days. However, it can affect milk production and lead to market losses for live animals, meat, and animal genetics.

The NVSL release states no livestock were moved on or off the affected premises, and biosecurity measures, along with vector control, are in place to reduce the spread. A 14-day quarantine starting from the last affected animal’s lesion onset is also implemented.

Canadian animals with a Canadian health certificate can return within three days of the USDA declaring their host state affected by VSV, provided they are inspected by the CFIA POE (port of entry) vet.

Otherwise, the release said, the Canadian health certificate is null and void, and animals from a VSV-infected state will require a minimum 21-day quarantine in a non-infected state before they can be exported to Canada.

The CFIA, in partnership with the USDA, has arranged special accommodations for animals imported for Canadian livestock events such as the Royal Winter Fair, Agribition, the Calgary Stampede and horse-specific events at Spruce Meadows and Thunderbirds.

“U.S.-origin and returning Canadian horses and ruminants that qualify for this exception are required to obtain a CFIA import permit and a USDA health certificate with the USDA addendum for VSV,” stated the CFIA release.

The last outbreak of VSV in the U.S. occurred from May 2023 through January 2024 and affected 319 premises across California, Nevada, and Texas.

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What I uncovered instead was a murky trail of fragmented data, shifting export markets, questionable industry practices and a stunning lack of transparency.

Canada’s horse slaughter industry historically handled tens of thousands of horses a year.

At its peak, more than 100,000 horses were slaughtered annually, many imported from the United States after U.S. slaughter plants closed in 2007.

These horses, sometimes young and healthy, often unwanted or surplus, were shipped for processing with meat exported to Europe and Asia.

In addition, the pharmaceutical industry, particularly pregnant mare urine (PMU) farms, historically contributed horses to the slaughter pipeline. While the PMU industry has declined, its impact continues to shape the movement of horses.

While horse slaughter may be unfortunate, it serves a practical role: unwanted horses in Canada and the U.S. provide meat for markets in Japan, France and other parts of Asia.

Even so, necessity does not absolve the industry from responsibility. There must be accountability in the transition from companion animal to livestock, including traceability, humane handling and ethical oversight at every stage.

Recent estimates suggest that domestic slaughter has dropped dramatically. From highs of more than 80,000 to 100,000 horses annually, numbers now appear closer to 15,000 to 25,000. This shift is due largely to several converging factors.

Tens of thousands of American horses entered Canada each year for slaughter, but advocacy campaigns and stricter U.S. regulations sharply curtailed this flow. Today, the majority of U.S. horses go to Mexico for slaughter rather than Canada, though some still enter Canadian facilities.

The European Union introduced requirements for drug history and traceability, making it harder for Canadian plants to export meat without full documentation. Japan has also increased scrutiny, particularly for live exports.

The number of federally licensed slaughterhouses has dwindled, with Alberta’s Bouvry Exports and Quebec’s Viande Richelieu dominating the landscape.

These two sister companies are corporately related, and while Bouvry has feedlot capabilities, the Granum Prime Feedlot has been shut down following legal scrutiny.

It is important to note that the Fort Macleod slaughter plant remains operational under Canadian Food Inspection Agency oversight.

The 2025 fine against Bouvry addressed past violations at the Granum feedlot but did not mandate closure, allowing the Fort McLeod facility to continue processing horses at reduced capacity.

While headlines may suggest shutdowns or fines signal the end of the industry, in practice, processing continues — quietly, persistently and largely out of public view.

One of the greatest challenges in understanding the horse slaughter industry is the lack of clear, publicly accessible data.

Federal reporting on horse slaughter ceased in 2017, and while organizations and advocates attempt to fill the gaps, discrepancies and missing information persist.

This absence of disclosure, whether due to fragmented regulation, corporate practices or systemic oversight issues, makes it nearly impossible to trace horses from auction to slaughter, monitor welfare standards or fully understand the impact of related industries.

Highlighting these blind spots is essential: without transparency, accountability remains out of reach, and the true scale and conditions of the industry stay hidden from public and regulatory scrutiny.

The persistence of opaque practices in the horse slaughter industry suggests that concentrated corporate power, political influence and regulatory limitations all play a role.

Large processing companies maintain significant leverage through economic arguments — jobs, trade revenues and market stability, which can slow legislative reforms or complicate enforcement.

Regulatory agencies, reliant on industry data and expertise, face challenges in monitoring welfare and traceability, while cross-border trade adds layers of complexity that obscure oversight.

These factors together create a system where transparency is limited, accountability is difficult and ethical scrutiny is often delayed or diluted, leaving the welfare of horses vulnerable to gaps in governance and industry influence.

Live exports for slaughter remain a small fraction of total horses, but they are ethically significant.

Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 horses are shipped annually from Canada to Japan, mostly draft breeds, enduring long flights in containment shipping. Public concern has mounted over the lack of transparency and oversight.

Bill C-355, introduced in 2023, aims to prohibit the air export of live horses for slaughter. Yet progress is slow, and industry influence remains strong.

The lack of clear reporting and public access to data keeps the industry largely hidden, leaving questions about humane treatment and traceability unanswered.

Canada’s horse slaughter industry has changed dramatically, but it has not gone away. Transparency is key, both to protect the animals and to allow the public, policymakers and advocates to engage meaningfully.

Understanding this hidden system — its decline, consolidation, corporate connection and ethical challenges — is essential for anyone seeking to navigate the intersection of agriculture, animal welfare and international trade.

The lives of these horses deserve scrutiny, clarity and oversight, even in an industry where horses, once unwanted as companions, become economically valuable as livestock.

The post Canada’s slaughter horse industry lacks transparency appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The community has answered the call to help Denis and Melissa Jackson’s family of six at White Barn Fun Farm, just outside Brooks, Alta.

The exotic animal farm, which has been open to the public since 2018, has been a hit with camp kids for years.

It suffered the loss of five-year-old Stoli, a Bactrian camel, and Butterscotch, a nine-year-old pony, which were killed in the storm. They were seeking refuge under trees that fell on them.

The two may have been different species but were inseparable as friends.

“Stoli wasn’t your typical camel. He was so friendly and very personable. You could ride him and he’d never bite or spit at people, and he tolerated the kids,” said Liza Maurette, who has started a GoFundMe page for the farm, covering costs not covered by insurance.

“Camels can be a little ornery, but he was a complete sweetheart. I would go there and lean up against his enclosure he was in and put my back on the fence talking to people. He would come put his head on my shoulder and kind of lick my cheek a bit and say, ‘I’m here.'”

“His best friend Butterscotch also perished.”

Denis was working in his shop and had 10 minutes to get his animals to more protected areas before the full force of the hailstorm hit.

After Denis settled his animals, he took shelter in the house, only to have Butterscotch and Stoli decide to venture to a different spot under two large and well-rooted trees, which eventually fell.

“It was under two trees on the far side of their pasture. They figured the tree would be better shelter, but unfortunately it wasn’t a good decision,” said Maurette.

The farm also features yaks, emus, alpacas, peacocks, goats, bison, horses, ducks, and geese, which are a source of delight for families, camps and school tours from April to October.

Besides helping run the farm, Melissa also serves as a special needs worker for Maurette’s daughter, Emily, who has Down syndrome.

“Emily is very good with animals,” Maurette said.

“She helps the kids get comfortable around them and show how to feed them. She’s really good between working with the kids and the animals. It’s the most beautiful symbiotic relationship one could hope for.”

Things insurance can’t cover

People often think insurance means that everything is covered in the event of a natural disaster, but that is not the case, which led Maurette to spearhead the GoFundMe fundraiser.

“There are some things that insurance covers, and a whole lot that they don’t. They’ll cover the big buildings, they don’t cover chicken coops and shelters. There is the loss of income they don’t cover, or the camel or pony they lost,” said Maurette.

She said exotic animal insurance is exorbitant for a farm with a revenue stream that is confined to fair-weather months.

“A camel is like a $30,000 hit. It’s not a cheap animal just to go out and purchase.”

Denis drives truck during the winter to supplement the exotic animal farm small business.

But beyond the financial implications is the grief felt by the young people who make White Barn Fun Farms a regular stop. Letters and cards from camp kids are flooding in to the Jackson family as the children they try and help in their own way.

“They have been getting beautiful cards made by kids with 25 cents taped inside to contribute,” said Maurette.

“This is just a little business. it’s not a big organization that can suffer a hit like this very easily.”

Volunteers rally

All the windows on the west side of the house were destroyed, and fences throughout the property have been knocked over. Animal pens were wrecked, leaving yaks to mingle with alpacas, creating a Noah’s Ark vibe.

Volunteers from near and far have descended on the farm since the storm to help the Jacksons pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives.

Chainsaws are put to work clearing damaged trees, while other duties include hauling branches, fixing fences and clearing dangerous debris, as well as bringing food for the volunteers.

“They had people come from Calgary to help for the whole day and another guy from Medicine Hat. It was kind of cool to make that journey and do a hard day’s work, showing they care,” said Maurette.

“There was a lot of fixing and a lot of clean up. Between the Saturday and Sunday, they got so much done. It was unbelievable.”

For more information about the fundraising campaign, visit GoFundMe.

As of Tuesday, $10,270 had been raised.

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