As far as I know, it was.
On the horse meat side, a lot of the “problems” or situations we face in Canada will be rectified very shortly. The Americans have just reinstated the ability to do horse slaughter in the U.S., and that will stop that flow of 50,000 to 60,000, or whatever the number you gave was. It varies each year.
Horse slaughter is a valuable operation in this country. Having raised horses, I can tell you there are times that slaughter is the only alternative. Rather than letting a horse be mistreated or something, sometimes that's the more humane way to do it. It is a legitimate, viable business in this country, which exports predominantly into the European market. I can assure you that very few horses are “buted”, as you call it. If they come off the racetrack, it basically desensitizes them to running.
I raised predominantly ranch horses and I never had it. Most ranchers don't use phenylbutazone, so most of those horses going through are not....
In PMU operations, the offspring are sometimes sent to a slaughter facility. You mentioned being under six months. A lot of that happens if they're not up to a bloodline or something saleable. They'll be sent to a slaughter facility, but they're not buted. So I think that argument's a little bit overblown.
The regulations are quite strict here in Canada, but I'll let George fill you in on that.