A P.E.I. woman has begun an e-mail campaign to ensure that rules are enforced after the release of a video showing potential problems at a horse slaughterhouse in Saskatchewan.

'The horses end up getting ... butchered alive.'— Jana Hemphill, stable owner

The slaughterhouse came under heavy criticism following a CBC News investigation that included a video obtained from the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition. It showed holding pens were too big for horses, making it hard to keep the animal still before it's stunned with a deadbolt.

"The workers are put in the position where they're poking and prodding and beating horses trying to subdue them to get them in place to get one shot that's supposed to kill them, and it doesn't if they're not dead-on accurate," said P.E.I. horse breeder Jana Hemphill.

"So what happens is the horses end up getting … butchered alive."

Hemphill worries some P.E.I. horses may end up at that slaughterhouse or others with similar problems. She currently has about 25 horses at Story Book Stables in Brookfield, west of Charlottetown, used for riding and breeding, and she believes horses deserve a better fate.

"Horses have fought wars for us, horses have ploughed our fields, they've allowed themselves to be a mode of transportation, they're our pets, they're our companions, they're Olympic athletes," she said.

"They've given so much to us, and to me they just deserve a better end."

Meat destined for export

Horse meat may not be popular in Canada, but it's a delicacy in Europe and Asia. Since the U.S. banned the killing of horses for food in 2006, horse slaughtering in Canada has grown 75 per cent.

Hemphill has started an e-mail campaign to try to ensure federal officials better enforce the rules for humane slaughter. She's enlisted the support of Malpeque MP and Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter.

"The [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] has to ensure that our facilities in which horses are slaughtered in, the animal is treated in a humane way as much as possible," said Easter.

A study already underway at Charlottetown's Atlantic Veterinary College should eventually show what happens to horses on P.E.I. once they're no longer needed or wanted.