Engineering and performance standards parameters for long distance road transport in the United States: the special case of horses

Abstract

The transportation conditions of slaughter horses for human consumption have become a public and regulatory issue in the United States in the last two decades. Federal regulations were developed partially using the results of funded research projects that examined the types of vehicles, characteristics of slaughter horse candidates, types of injuries during transport, duration of transit, stocking densities and other behavioural and physiological indices during long-distance road transport. Additionally, the physiological responses of horses travelling long distances in vans while cross-tied by their halters in individual stalls were also studied. Both engineering- and performance-based standards were developed from the scientific studies and implemented in the federal regulations to ensure the humane movement of equines to slaughter facilities via commercial road transportation.