‘It’s completely unacceptable’: Horses exported to Japan suffering illnesses, death: animal rights advocates

Alex Karpa has more on the dispute between industry officials and animal advocacy groups over concerns that horses are killed during the overseas journey.

WINNIPEG - A new report from an animal rights advocates claims horses being flown to Japan for slaughter continue to endure injuries, illnesses and in even some cases, death during transport.

The report titled “Cruel Cargo: Hidden Injuries & Deaths in Canada’s Live Horse Export Trade” was compiled by Animal Justice, in partnership with Japan-based Life Investigation Agency (LIA) and the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC).

The groups compared Japanese data with documents from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that CHDC obtained through access-to-information requests.

It examined data from 18 different shipments from Winnipeg and Edmonton between Sept. 2024 to Sept. 2025.

Report claims death, injuries to horses

It claims nine horses died, 29 collapsed during flights, more than 290 were injured or sick and also alleges at least five shipments exceeded Canada’s 28-hour limit for transporting horses without food, water, or rest.

“Something is clearly wrong with this industry,” said Kaitlyn Mitchell, who is the director of legal advocacy with Animal Justice. “It really paints a picture of the suffering that these horses are enduring after they leave Canada.”

Horses are live-shipped by air to Japan from both Manitoba and Alberta. Once in Japan, the horses are fattened, before being slaughtered and served raw as sashimi, which is considered a delicacy.

None of the numbers in Animal Justice’s report are reflected in records from the CFIA, which regulates livestock exports.

On its website, it shows no recorded deaths or injuries to the 2,408 horses exported between July 2024 and June 2025.

Take animal welfare seriously: CFIA

In a response to CTV News, the CFIA says it strengthened oversight by requiring airlines to promptly report any deaths or serious injuries on arrival, ensuring contingency plans are in place, and requesting additional documentation on transport timelines and arrival details.

The agency says exporters are also using more direct flights to shorten the transport time.

“The CFIA’s jurisdiction applies only to compliance with Canadian regulations. Once horses leave Canada, the Agency’s legal authority is extremely limited,” part of a statement reads. “The CFIA does not have jurisdiction over animals once they are unloaded in another country and cannot enforce Canadian regulations outside of Canada.”

“The Agency is reviewing the information referenced in a recent report, including information received from foreign authorities, to determine whether there is evidence of possible non-compliance with Canada’s regulations, recognizing that Canada’s authority ends once animals leave Canadian jurisdiction,” the statement added. “The CFIA will continue to enforce Canada’s humane transport requirements and take action where appropriate.”

But Mitchell argues exporters are not providing the whole picture to the CFIA.

“They’re reporting what the exporters report to them,” she said. “When we reported on the scale of deaths and injuries in 2024, at the time, the CFIA said there had been no deaths at all since 2015, it had been almost 10 years. We know that it was wrong, and we can see again that the records are wrong.”

“The CFIA only tracks to the point that the wheels touch the ground in Japan and once those wheels touch the ground, that’s it, they don’t consider that their jurisdiction. Even when a horse is injured so badly on the plane that they are euthanized before even getting to quarantine, that’s not making it into the CFIA records,” she claims. “The data really matters here. They are misrepresenting the industry to Canadians and Canadians deserve to know the truth.”

‘Baseless claim’: Exporters’ association

Andrew Jones with the Canadian Equine Exporters Association (CEEA) says they are troubled anytime reporting questions the care and animal welfare of the horses that they export to Japan.

Jones says they take the report seriously and are investigating the claims.

But mentions groups, like Animal Justice, have been advocating against the practice of animal agriculture in Canada for years.

He says Mitchell’s claims of exporters not reporting injuries to the CFIA are simply false.

“We have extreme trust in the CFIA. Senior level officials have flown on flights to Japan to observe the practice and our association works diligently with CFIA officials,” Jones said, who is the executive director of the association. “We’re troubled by the findings, but any allegation of wrongdoing on the behalf of our members is just unacceptable.”

Jones says the association is continuing to work with the CFIA and other regulatory bodies to make sure horses are well cared for and show international buyers that they can trust Canada’s agriculture sector.

He says animal welfare is the number one priority for exporters of live horses.

“They produce a world-class product that Canadians ought to take a lot of pride in, and it is well-received from the export markets,” he said. “We follow all of the rules, all of the regulations, work with the regulators for this prime Canadian agriculture product.”

Ongoing calls for a ban

Animal Justice and other advocacy groups have called for a ban on live horse exports to Japan for years.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau committed to banning this practice in the 2021 federal election, but a bill to end this practice died when Parliament prorogued last year.

Mitchell says there is no way to export horses safely.

“We cannot continue exporting horses from Canada, all the way to Japan for slaughter, and do so in a humane way,” she said. “The only solution to protect horses is to ban the practice.”