I have heard some people involved in this process talk about “the” set of facts, or some people have said that there seems to be no clear science on some of these issues. The literature is filled with lots of studies, many publications, including very recent research on horses and the transport of them by air and other means. There is a lot of information out there. I have certainly consulted with colleagues of mine from the equine world and also government vets, many of whom are opposed to this practice of transporting animals such long distances. In this capacity, most of them think there are many shortcomings to the way we are doing it.
If anyone is looking for even just one example of a very robust summary of horse export, the European Food Safety Authority put together a panel on animal health and welfare in 2022, I think, and published a document called “Welfare of equidae during transport”. It references many published studies on horse transport, and the document produces many recommendations on how to handle horses in transport by air and other means.