The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines

The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines is currently being updated by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), and members of the public are being invited to comment on the draft and submit recommendations. 

While the scope of this Code is presented as limited to on-farm care, it has far broader implications. As written, it implicitly legitimizes both horse slaughter and the export of live horses for slaughter — practices that are cruel and inhumane.

Along with comments to improve practices in the care and handling of equines, please make sure to speak out against horse slaughter and the live export of horses while answering the survey. Follow the instructions and use the text below to submit your feedback to NFACC before March 12th, 2026.

Instructions:

Follow this link to access the survey: https://www.nfacc.ca/codes-of-practice/equine

Provide your personal details and start the survey. You must be ready to complete the full survey when you start. If you do not have comments on specific sections, you can check the box: No comments, and move on to the next section.

Section 2: Facilities and Housing

Section 2.3.1 Indoor space allowance

Tiestall housing systems must be explicitly prohibited, as they fail to meet horses’ fundamental behavioural and physiological needs. Horses housed in tie stalls are unable to lie down in lateral recumbency, the only posture that allows for restorative REM sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation has welldocumented negative impacts on physical health and overall welfare. Housing systems that prevent horses from lying down, resting normally, or freely adjusting their posture are therefore inherently incompatible with acceptable welfare standards. Furthermore, tying a horse without continuous supervision poses significant and unacceptable safety risks. Horses may panic, fall, become cast, or suffer severe injuries to the neck, spine, or limbs while restrained.

Section 6 : Loose horse management

6.5.1 Stocking Density

Adequate space and shelter are essential to reduce stress, aggression, and injury, and to protect horses from extreme weather. The Code should introduce explicit, enforceable minimum requirements for stocking density and shelter in loose housing systems and feedlots. These requirements should ensure that housing conditions consistently meet horses’ behavioural, physiological, and environmental needs, rather than relying on discretionary or voluntary interpretation.

Section 7: Husbandry

7.1 Turnout, Social Opportunities, and Enrichment

Horses must have access to turnout every day, except where temporary confinement is required for clearly defined medical reasons or where outdoor conditions pose an immediate and significant risk to the horse’s safety or health. Turnout must be understood as time spent outside the stall in an environment that allows horses to move freely, explore, rest, and engage in normal behaviours; it is not interchangeable with exercise or riding. Regular turnout is essential for maintaining overall physical wellbeing, and for reducing the risk of stereotypic behaviours associated with prolonged confinement. Moreover, horses are inherently social animals and must not be housed in social isolation. They must have regular opportunities for meaningful contact with conspecifics, including physical contact where safe and appropriate, or at a minimum visual, auditory, and olfactory contact. Social interaction is a fundamental behavioural need and plays a critical role in emotional wellbeing and the expression of normal social behaviours.

7.4 Castration

Castration should be restricted to licensed veterinarians without any exceptions. This procedure carries inherent risks, including severe pain, haemorrhage, infection, and lifethreatening complications, and therefore requires appropriate training and access to pain management and emergency care. Allowing castration to be performed by unqualified individuals creates an unacceptable risk to animal welfare.

Section 9. Reproductive management

9.1 Responsible breeding

In the preamble, the Code states that “the term purposebred describes horses bred for a specific industry, including meat production.” Horses should never be bred for human consumption in Canada, as horse slaughter cannot be carried out in a manner that meets acceptable animal welfare standards. The process of transporting, handling, and killing horses for meat exposes them to significant stress, pain, and suffering that cannot be adequately mitigated. Moreover, breeding horses for slaughter is fundamentally inconsistent with Canadian public values, which overwhelmingly oppose horse slaughter. Recognizing horses as “purposebred” for meat risks normalizing practices that are incompatible with both animal welfare principles and societal expectations.

Section 10. Transport

Section 10.2 Pre-transport Preparation

The recommended practice of: “when possible, arrange stops every 6 hours during transport to allow horses to have access to forage, water, and rest” should be a requirement. Prolonged periods without feed, water and rest during transport causes physiological stress and can lead serious welfare outcomes. Clear, enforceable limits are necessary to ensure that horses’ basic biological needs are consistently met across all transport contexts.

Section 11 Change or End of Career

11.1 Change or End of Career Options

Horse slaughter is not an acceptable end of career option and should be removed from this section. The process of transporting, handling, and killing horses for slaughter exposes them to significant stress, fear, pain, and suffering that cannot be reliably mitigated to meet acceptable animal welfare standards. Treating slaughter as an acceptable end of career risks normalizing practices that are fundamentally incompatible with the Code’s purpose of preventing avoidable suffering and safeguarding horse welfare.

Section 12 Euthanasia

12.2 Methods of euthanasia

The penetrating captive bolt gun is not an acceptable method of euthanasia for horses.

The use of captive bolt devices carries a significant risk of improper application due to horses’ size, skull anatomy, movement, and temperament, increasing the likelihood of incomplete loss of consciousness and avoidable pain and distress. Unlike methods specifically designed and validated for equines, captive bolt guns do not reliably ensure immediate and irreversible unconsciousness. Permitting this method undermines the Code’s objective of safeguarding horse welfare at end of life and risks normalizing practices that cannot consistently meet acceptable euthanasia standards.