Horses

It’s no coincidence that La Palette put a moratorium on selling horsemeat on the same day that The Toronto Star published an in-depth investigation (http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1032379--shooting-horses-canada-s-slaughter-industry-under-fire ) into horse consumption in Canada. That article points out several gruesome details about the horsemeat industry.

Most disturbing, for Amlani, is the fact that unwanted horses from the U.S. — where consumption of horsemeat has been banned since 2007 — are apparently making their way to Canada, including the Richelieu meat plant in Quebec, La Palette’s former horsemeat supplier.

Amlani was under the impression that Richelieu used only horses raised specifically for human consumption; that they were raised ethically and with adherence to health regulations. The problem with U.S. horses, experts say, is that they weren’t raised with human consumption in mind — they’re potentially contaminated with drugs like phenylbutazone (PBZ), an anti-inflammatory.

“It’s a health regulation violation,” a professor of neurology told The Star. “We’re sending contaminated horse meat to the people eating it.”