Out to pasture
Justin Thompson, CBC News Online | Dec. 23, 2002

From beloved pets and newborn colts, to racehorses past their prime, more than 60,000 Canadian horses end up in meat packing plants every year. And although Canadians aren't especially fond of horse meat, Canada is the fourth-largest exporter in the world, according to French meat authority MHR Viandes. France, along with Italy and Japan, consumed well over half of the 13,167 tonnes of horse meat exported by Canada in 2000.

Globally, Europeans have the largest appetite for horse, with Italy leading the herd. According to MHR Viandes, Italians ate 78,500 tonnes of horse meat in 2001. That was up almost 11 per cent from the previous year. Industry experts say the increase was part of a Europe-wide spike in demand. They attribute it, in large part, to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, as Europeans abandoned beef in favour of other meats.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, horse meat is legal for sale in Canada, even if it doesn't make it to many dinner tables. To many Canadians, eating horse is about as unappetizing a thought as eating cat or dog. Canada's largest domestic market for horse meat is Quebec, where small pockets of the population enjoy a bit of cheval every now and then.

There are five major horse slaughterers operating in North America according to Meat Processing magazine. Canadian operations are in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. In addition to horse meat exports, Canada also exports an unknown number of live horses to the U.S. for slaughter.

While Canada's horse meat exports have remained fairly steady for the past five years, the U.S. export market is in a tailspin. According to MHR Viandes, U.S. exports have fallen from 19,172 tonnes in 1995 to 10,061 tonnes in 2000. This it attributes to increased competition from cheaper sources, and higher domestic production in consuming countries.