Horse Meat - Production

Production

In most countries where horses are slaughtered for food, they are processed in a similar fashion to cattle, i.e., in large-scale factory slaughter houses (abattoirs) where they are stunned with a captive bolt gun and bled to death. In countries with a less industrialized food production system, horses and other animals are slaughtered individually outdoors as needed, in the village where they will be consumed, or near to it.

In 2005, the eight principal horse meat producing countries produced over 700,000 tonnes of this product.

Major Horse meat Production Countries, 2005

Country	Animals	Production in metric tons
China	1,700,000	204,000
Mexico	626,000	78,876
Kazakhstan	340,000	55,100
Mongolia	310,000	38,000
Argentina	255,000	55,600
Italy	213,000	48,000
Brazil	162,000	21,200
Kyrgyzstan	150,000	25,000
Worldwide Totals	4,727,829	720,168

In 2005, the 5 biggest horse meat-consuming countries were China (421,000 tonnes), Mexico, Russia, Italy, and Kazakhstan (54,000 tonnes). In 2010, Mexico produced 140,000 tonnes, China - 126,000 tonnes, Kazakhstan - 114,000 tonnes.

As horses are relatively poor converters of grass and grain to meat compared to cattle, they are not usually bred or raised specifically for their meat. Instead, horses are slaughtered when their monetary value as riding or work animals is low, but their owners can still make money selling them for horse meat, as for example in the routine export of the southern English ponies from the New Forest, Exmoor, and Dartmoor. British law requires the use of "equine passports" even for semi-wild horses to enable traceability (also known as "provenance"), so most slaughtering is done in the UK before the meat is exported, meaning that the animals travel "on the hook, not on the hoof" (as carcasses rather than live). Ex-racehorses, riding horses, and other horses sold at auction may also enter the food chain; sometimes these animals have been stolen or purchased under false pretenses. Even famous horses may end up in the slaughterhouse; the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and 1987 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year winner, Ferdinand, is believed to have been slaughtered in Japan, probably for pet food.

There is a misconception that horses are commonly slaughtered for pet food, however. In many countries, like the United States, horse meat was outlawed in pet food in the 1970s. American horse meat is considered a delicacy in Europe and Japan, and its cost is in line with veal, so it would be prohibitively expensive in many countries for pet food.

The British newspaper The Daily Mail reports that every year, 100,000 live horses are transported into and around the European Union for human consumption, mainly to Italy but also to France and Belgium.

Meat from horses that veterinarians have put down with a lethal injection is not suitable for human consumption, as the toxin remains in the meat; the carcasses of such animals are sometimes cremated (most other means of disposal are problematic, due to the toxin). Remains of Euthanized animals can be rendered which maintains the value of the skin, bones, fats etc. for such purposes as fish food. This is commonly done for lab specimens (e.g., pigs) euthanized by injection. The amount of drug (e.g. a barbiturate) is insignificant after rendering.

Carcasses of horses treated with some drugs are considered edible in some jurisdictions. For example, according to Canadian regulation, hyaluron, used in treatment of articular disorders in horses, in HY-50 preparation should not be administered to animals to be slaughtered for horse meat. In Europe, however, the same preparation is not considered to have any such effect, and edibility of the horse meat is not affected.