The price for slaughter horses in Alberta has been cut in half by recent discoveries in Europe that beef has been mixed with horse meat in some European plants and products.
Bruce Flewelling, an auctioneer who buys and sells horses for slaughter, said prices are now at 25 to 30 cents per pound, down from 40 to 45 cents before the European food scandal began about three weeks ago.
The two Alberta plants that handle horses have reduced the number of animals processed in recent weeks because of reduced European demand, he added.
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Flewelling said the Lacombe plant stopped processing horses for about three weeks, while the Fort Macleod plant began slaughtering more bison and cattle after export demand for horse meat dropped. Recovery to former processing levels may take time.
“I think it will take awhile because I think people are kind of hanging on, waiting for the price to go back up and there will be kind of a backlog. It’s just supply and demand.”
Bill desBarres, chair of the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada, said the reduction in exports was disappointing but short-lived.
“Shortly after the problem was revealed, then of course shipments were shut down. But that was for a short period of time until they determined where the source of the problem was.”
The situation arose when horse meat was detected in beef products in Ireland. It later widened to other countries when horse meat was found in various processed meat products labeled as beef.
Canadian horse meat has not been connected with the European situation.
The horse meat industry in Canada generates an estimated $70 million per year to the national economy.
