Mr. Chair and committee, in answer to your specific question about the transport times for horses entering Canada from the United States, slaughter horses actually are the only species of animal where regulations exist in the United States with regard to humane transportation. They carry a time limit of 28 hours without feed, water, and rest in transit. Canada currently allows 36 hours for horses and other monogastric animals, such as pigs, without feed, water, and rest. So depending on the origin of the horses arriving at this particular plant, it is likely completely legal that they did arrive without having been fed, watered, and rested in transit.
We do have regulations in place with regard to slaughter that stipulate that those animals have to be given water, feed, and rest at the plant, and evidence exists that this was in fact the case.