Horses 'still dying' after flights from Canada to Japan — and regulator seems unaware
CBC
A new investigation by animal rights advocates shows horses being flown for slaughter in Japan continue to suffer injuries, illness and even death, reigniting the call for Canada to ban the shipments.
"Horses are still dying. Horses are still collapsing on the flights," said Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy with Animal Justice, which wrote the report with documents provided by Japan-based Life Investigation Agency (LIA) and the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC).
"You cannot bulk-ship horses from rural Manitoba and rural Alberta to Japan for slaughter and do it in a humane way."
Retired Conservative senator Donald Plett opposes banning shipments but says Ottawa should demand more rigorous reporting requirements and accountability when horses are injured or die.
"I've always promoted that if there are problems within the system, let's fix the system, not kill it," Plett said.
According to Statistics Canada, 2,512 horses were exported to Japan for slaughter in 2023, for a total value of $19 million. The industry involves approximately five export companies and several hundred producers, mostly in Alberta, but also in Manitoba and Ontario.
Animal Justice and LIA received Government of Japan records from 18 shipments of an estimated 1,822 horses from Edmonton and Winnipeg between September 2024 and September 2025.
In their new report, the groups cross-referenced the Japanese data with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) documents received by CHDC through access to information requests.
They found at least nine horses died as a result of illness or injury during transport.
Nearly 300 other horses experienced injuries and illnesses, including lacerations (some infected and some bleeding); wounds to hoofs, legs and eyes; swollen abdomen; fever and diarrhea; parts of ears missing and elevated white blood cell counts (infection). Twenty-nine collapsed.
Japanese records show two horses suffered such serious injuries during transport that they were euthanized after landing. Another could not stand and had to be removed from the plane with a forklift, and one had significant bleeding.
None of this is reflected in CFIA records.
CBC News has reviewed the original Japanese documents from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Animal Quarantine Service, and has verified the data being released in the groups' latest report.
Two shipments in particular stand out for Mitchell at Animal Justice.
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