Welfare of horses from Mexico and the United States of America transported for slaughter in Mexico: Fitness profiles for transport and pre-slaughter logistics

Abstract

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Journeys, Journey Conditions, and Welfare Assessment of Unbroken (Unhandled) Horses on Arrival at a Slaughterhouse in Italy

“…The evidence of the effects of transportation to slaughter is scant [ 8 ]. While dead animals on arrival (DOA) or in the lairage were never recorded, the prevalence of severe welfare issues varied from study to study [ 1 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Marlin et al [ 1 ] found that 23% out of 1519 horses unloaded in Italy after long journeys (arriving from Poland and Romania) had at least one acute injury and 10% were severely lame.…”

“…Roy et al [ 12 ] reported that out of 3940 horses transported to Canadian slaughterhouses, only 1% of them were lame, and unable to walk in 0.16% of cases. Finally, Miranda-de la Lama et al [ 11 ], concerning a total of 2648 horses transported to Mexican slaughterhouses, reported that 0.75% of horses from the USA and 0.30% of horses from Mexico were non-ambulatory at arrival and that 18.6% of them showed a “very poor” profile based on the welfare indicators such as lameness, nasal discharge, ocular discharge, and skin wounds. Since there is no official and validated method to assess the welfare of horses during and after traveling, it is difficult to compare the conditions and outcomes [ 8 ].…”

“…Several hazards linked to transport-related welfare issues have been identified [ 8 ]. Improper assessment of the fitness for transport, lack or insufficient provision of water and food in transit, high stocking density, journey duration, and high effective temperatures inside the vehicles were all considered important risk factors [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. However, Miranda-de la Lama et al [ 11 ] showed that there were no differences between the welfare status of horses arriving from Mexico and the USA, despite different journey durations.…”

“…Improper assessment of the fitness for transport, lack or insufficient provision of water and food in transit, high stocking density, journey duration, and high effective temperatures inside the vehicles were all considered important risk factors [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. However, Miranda-de la Lama et al [ 11 ] showed that there were no differences between the welfare status of horses arriving from Mexico and the USA, despite different journey durations. Moreover, over the years, there seemed to be a reduction of the health and welfare problems, mainly due to a mitigation of hazards, and, consequently, an improvement of the journey conditions under which horses were transported to the slaughterhouse.…”

Development and Validation of a Test for the Classification of Horses as Broken or Unbroken

“…Moreover, several countries have no plants that slaughter horses for human consumption. As a result, each year, hundreds of thousands of horses are subjected to a gruelling, cross-border journey (>8 h of travel) that ends in slaughter [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Long journeys increase the risk of welfare issues and often lead to blurring of information related to transport conditions [ 8 ].…”