A contentious export: The anatomy of Canada's horsemeat industry
From the feedlot to the dinner plate, horses bred for slaughter serve a niche market
Confined in wooden crates, 99 horses were loaded into an airplane's cargo hold at the Edmonton International Airport last month.
Like thousands of others before them, the animals were bound for Japan where their meat, served raw, is considered a delicacy.
Horse welfare advocates are hoping the shipment will be one of the last.
"When horses for slaughter are shipped, they are crammed into these crates," said Sinikka Crosland, president of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition.
"It's a horrific journey."
Live exports are banned in the United States and Britain, and horse advocates who condemn the slaughter have long called on Canada to follow suit. As Ottawa mulls a proposed a ban on live exports for slaughter, horse activists and industry advocates are clashing over whether a ban is justified and the potential consequences.
Canada is among the leading exporters of horsemeat in the world. Thousands of horses — raised solely for slaughter — are shipped out of the country each year. It's a lucrative but controversial multimillion-dollar business that is now facing an uncertain future.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a December 2021 mandate letter to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, vowed to end exports of live horses for slaughter.
The Prime Minister's Office is supporting a private member's bill tabled by Liberal MP Tim Louis in September calling on the government to make good on that promise. Lawrence MacAulay, who took over from Bibeau as Canada's agriculture minister this summer, has said he takes the issue, and animal welfare, seriously.
The bill calls for a prohibition on the export of horses for slaughter, with fines of up to $250,000 or a two-year jail term for people found guilty of participating in the trade.
Domestic slaughter would be untouched by the proposed legislation.
The food chain
Horsemeat, described as soft and sweet, is considered taboo to many North American palates but it's no stranger to Canadian kitchens.
Especially popular in Quebec, the meat is stocked in grocery stores and butcher shops and can be found on the menus of high-end restaurants across the country.
The vast majority of consumer demand, however, can be found overseas with live exports accounting for the bulk of the Canadian industry.
Horses can be sold into meat production and slaughtered for the domestic market.
Animals destined for live export, however, are purpose-bred and begin their lives on sprawling feedlots.
There are two remaining slaughter plants in Canada — Viande Richelieu in Massueville, Que., and Bouvry Exports Ltd., in southern Alberta. Bouvry operates the largest horse slaughter plant in the country. It's surrounded by feedlots for the horses that serve its supply chain. The company declined to participate in an interview with CBC.
By the numbers
More than 85 per cent of Canada's horsemeat is exported. According to the Canadian Meat Council, major markets include Japan, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Kazakhstan.
Horses are shipped by air from Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg to Japan where they can fetch up to $9,000 each.
According to Statistics Canada, about 2,600 Canadian horses were exported for slaughter in 2022.
All went to Japan, at a total value of $19 million.
Data collected by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada shows that between January and March of this year, 899 horses were shipped out of the country.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says 45,000 horses destined for slaughter were shipped abroad between 2013 and 2023.
The journey
The journey for horses destined for slaughter begins at the feedlot.
Mostly Clydesdales and Percherons, horses are loaded onto trucks and delivered to the airport tarmac where they examined for signs of disease. The animals selected for transport are loaded into wooden crates and packed into the plane's cargo hold.
After they arrive in Japan, the horses are fattened for at least three months before they are slaughtered. Their meat, served uncooked, is coveted by consumers who pay upwards of $45 per kilogram for the delicacy.
Called basashi, it has earned the nickname "cherry blossom meat" for its unique flavour and texture.
Horses in crates are loaded onto a cargo plane in Winnipeg, bound for Japan. (Provided/Jennifer Woods)
Canadian food export regulations dictate that the animals in transit should spend no more than 28 hours without food, water or rest. Prior to February 2020, the maximum transport time was 36 hours.
The CFIA says it monitors the shipments closely and that strict health checks ensure the welfare of the animals aboard each flight.
Horses spend, on average, 20 to 22 hours in transit, according to the CFIA. Five deaths in transit have been reported to the agency over the past decade. The mortality rate at all stages of transport is 0.011 per cent, the agency said.
Welfare fears
Animal welfare advocates filed a legal complaint with the federal government after a December 2022 shipment of live horses from Winnipeg to Japan exceeded the 28-hour limit.
The complaint, and a petition promoted by Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden, have helped throw calls for a ban back into the spotlight.
Crosland, president of the non-profit advocacy group Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, said the conditions in transit are cruel. Horses are prone to panic and don't cope well with confinement, she said.
The coalition is seeking an outright ban on the horse slaughter but considers live exports particularly problematic.
The group has been monitoring the transports for years, gathering records and capturing video footage of the shipments.
Too often, regulations are broken and time limits on transports exceeded, Crosland said.
"Often, they're sitting on the tarmac for hours," she said. "They have no food, water or rest."
Regulations under scrutiny
Industry advocates say the sector is an important part of Canada's livestock economy, one that has been unfairly maligned by activists.
Jennifer Woods, a Calgary-based livestock handling expert who conducts animal welfare audits for the transport industry, said exports are strictly regulated and conditions are humane.
Japan doesn't accept live horse exports from any country other than Canada. The Japanese market is particularly obsessed with quality, Woods said.
"There are so many checks and balances," she said.
"It really comes down to the end use of the animal. And the end use of an animal should not define what their welfare is during their life."
More than 45 standards regulating the density of shipping, length of transport and overall animal health are enforced, Woods said.
For example, loading density regulations enforced by the International Air Transport Association require that horses weighing around 725 kilograms be given 1.7 square metres of space when transported in crates that hold three animals.
When they are shipped to Japan, horses are provided with more than two sq. m of space when loaded three to a crate, she said.
Woods said thousands of animals exported from the country every year under similar conditions.
"We export pigs, we export cattle, and we export them all under the same regulations and requirements so I just really struggle with the idea that air transport is only inhumane when it's export horses bound for Japan's meat market," Woods said.
"We don't all have to agree on whether horses should be consumed for meat. Nobody has to agree on that. But we should agree that regulations and bills are actually based on facts."
Horses
awaiting slaughter stand in a feedlot. The Canadian Horse Defence
Coalition describes the conditions for the animals shipped overseas as
cruel and inhumane. (The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition)
Bill DesBarres, chair of the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada, opposes a ban on live exports.
He said the horsemeat industry is no different than any other aspect of the livestock industry, and the sector is being unfairly villainized.
DesBarres spent decades breeding Appaloosas near Medicine Hat, Alta. When his operation was still active, he sold a handful of old horses each year for domestic slaughter. He said he enjoys eating a variety of meat, including horse.
He said the domestic market provides a humane and useful end-of-life option for animals that old or sick.
We raise livestock to provide a source of protein to humans who want to eat it.
- Bill DesBarres
"I respect many people who would rather not eat any meat," he said. "That's fine. That's their privilege and their prerogative.
"But we raise livestock to provide a source of protein to humans who want to eat it."
DesBarres said it's frustrating to see politics pose a threat to suppliers and breeders across the country. "A lot of people fear for their business and their livelihoods," he said.
A question of culture?
Dylan Gordon, a Halifax-based anthropologist and food culture researcher, said the proposed ban raises important questions around the politics of food and which animals are considered of value.
When people view animals as companions, the idea of eating them becomes morally abhorrent, he said.
Gordon cautioned, however, that the current debate over the Japanese market's appetite for raw horsemeat echoes historic, xenophobic beliefs while neglecting other problematic practices within Canada's meat industry.
He said it's important that Canadians think critically about their own food choices.
"Don't demonize other people for not eating the same way you do, because there's plenty of issues in our own backyard."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Canada isn't doing enough to protect horses flown to Japan for slaughter, advocates say
ATIP documents reveal December shipment exceeded legal limit, injured horses
Animal welfare advocates have filed a legal complaint with the federal government after a December 2022 shipment of live horses to Japan exceeded the legal 28-hour limit without food, water or rest.
Kaitlyn Mitchell, the Winnipeg-based director of legal advocacy for the non-profit group Animal Justice, filed the complaint to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after hearing from advocates who monitored the horses being brought to the international airport in Winnipeg and loaded on a Korean Air cargo plane on Dec. 11, 2022.
When they realized the flight was delayed nearly five hours, they tracked the plane online.
"It's a combination of being absolutely heartbroken and absolutely furious because we know the journey that these horses have in store for them," Mitchell said. "These horses cannot speak for themselves so we need Canadians to speak up for the horses."
"We asked them [CFIA] simply to uphold the law. And so far, they've refused."
WATCH | Horses are unloaded from semis at Winnipeg airport and onto flights to Japan:
Outside the metal airport security fence, Danae Tonge of Manitoba Animal Save was one of the people photographing and videotaping the 79 horses being unloaded from semi trucks.
She said they were put three or four deep into wooden crates and left on the tarmac for hours until they were re-loaded onto the plane.
"It's especially hard for horses, who are easily panicked and have strong flight instincts. They are very stressed by the noise, the turbulence and being forced to stand the entire trip," Tonge said recently.
Animals in transit for 30+ hours
The flights typically stop in Anchorage, Alaska, for re-fuelling and a crew change, Tonge said, but the December flight experienced delays in Winnipeg, then had to reroute through Seattle because of a blizzard in Anchorage.
By the time it reached Seattle, Tonge said the horses had already been in transit an estimated 16.5 hours. They had to wait 3.25 hours before the flight took off. It was another 11.5 hours to Kagoshima, Japan, for a minimum 32.5 hours without food, water or rest. It's not known how long it took to get to the Winnipeg airport or transport the horses from the airport in Japan to a quarantine site.
However, Tonge said it was a clear violation of Manitoba's Animal Care Act and federal Health of Animals Regulations.
WATCH | Canada isn't doing enough to protect horses flown to Japan for slaughter, advocates say:
"I just want people to know what's happening and to be outraged by it and to do something," she said.
The horses, many of them Clydesdales and Percherons, are bred and shipped to be slaughtered for meat.
Following the flight, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition filed an ATIP request with the CFIA. An interim report released last week noted three horses were found to be "down in the crate when they arrived" in Japan.
"If horses are down, they are very prone to conditions like colic, especially in unfamiliar situations and stressful situations," said Brittany Semeniuk, animal welfare specialist at the Winnipeg Humane Society.
"For horses, it's extremely serious. It can be often fatal."
The ATIP document includes emails and texts sent between people in Winnipeg and Japan. Their names, addresses and contact information are redacted.
One unidentified person wrote: "This has to be one of the most troublesome shipments we have ever had. Hopefully horses arrive safely and we can put this one behind us."
'Best thing for the horses' to carry on with flight
Lyle Lumax of Carolyle Farms in Swan River, Man., told CBC News he may have written that comment. He confirmed this was his shipment of horses and that he was on site at the Winnipeg airport when they learned the Anchorage airport had been shut down because of weather.
Three or four horses are loaded into wooden crates, then put into cargo planes to be flown to Japan for slaughter. (Manitoba Animal Save)
Lumax said the plane was already more than half loaded, so he and his team started making phone calls to figure out where they could land and find a crew able to fly the plane to Japan.
He said a group composed of himself, his logistics planner, the importer in Japan and the CFIA inspectors ultimately decided to go ahead with the shipment because it would have taken four hours to unload the horses and another five to get them back to the farm, and every time they are moved, there is a risk of injury.
"We just found another airport that had two pilots and decided between everybody, 'Let's get her done. Just do it.' And everybody, every part of the equation, was there. And we decided that for a couple hours [over the legal limit], this was totally the best thing for the horses," said Lumax, 70, who describes himself as a horse lover.
"All we would do by bringing them home, to stay within the limit, [is] put the horse at more risk. And that's in the air, that's in the loading and unloading and driving."
Lumax said he has flown as an attendant on more than 20 shipments to Japan and he checks on the horses multiple times during the flight. He said the horses will sleep standing up most of the time and that they are comfortable in the crates.
In documentation from his attendant who was on the December flight, Lumax said three horses fell in their crates during landing, but were able to stand up to be off-loaded, and made it safely to the quarantine site.
He said many cargo pilots are not used to flying livestock so he's had to tell pilots to "use the whole runway" during takeoff and landing and be gentle with the brakes.
"My business depends on [getting] the horses to the plane in the best shape they can be, 100 per cent of the time. To get the meat for their restaurants, they need the horses there in the best possible shape," he said.
'No enforcement actions … are planned'
In an email statement to CBC News, a Korean Air spokesperson said the company is aware of the Canadian regulation on the carriage of live animals, which restricts more than 28-hour flights and requires an equine flight attendant for the duration of the journey.
"We confirm that all the regulations and requirements are being thoroughly implemented and met without any exceptions," the spokesperson wrote.
He said the rerouted itinerary through Seattle added "a few hours" from its original flight plan, resulting "in a total flight time of 17 hours and 52 minutes on the concerned journey to Kagoshima."
"We are committed to safe and quality transportation of our clients' consignment to its final destination. We abide by all relevant operating procedures, and by the rules and regulations set forth by IATA and all concerned authorities," he wrote.
However, in a letter to Mitchell dated Jan. 6, 2023, the director of operations for Manitoba Region of the CFIA acknowledged the 28-hour limit was exceeded.
That is corroborated in the ATIP report, in a report by a CFIA inspector Dec. 12 that states: "A review of the flight was done and it ended up on the 30-hour mark."
In a response to Mitchell, the CFIA said "no enforcement actions related to this flight are planned. The CFIA continues to remind all parties involved in the export of horses by air about their responsibilities, including the importance of having appropriate contingency plans for all shipments and co-ordinating ground and air transport logistics to complete shipments within the 28-hour limit."
Petition to ban live export of horses
Up to 4,000 horses are shipped annually by air from Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg to Japan for human consumption, Lumax said, adding that they sell for $8,000-9,000 each. Exported horses are fattened in Japan before being slaughtered, according to the CFIA.
Advocacy groups are calling on Marie-Claude Bibeau, the minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to fulfil a December 2021 mandate letter from Prime Minister JustIn Trudeau telling her to "ban the live export of horses for slaughter."
The
Winnipeg Humane Society is one of the animal welfare groups promoting a
petition calling on the federal government to ban the export of live
horses. (Warren Kay/CBC News)
They have a high-profile champion: Canadian musician Jann Arden, who has witnessed many horse shipments and calls the whole process "heinous."
Arden has started an awareness campaign, Horseshit.ca, urging Canadians to contact their MPs and sign a House of Commons petition calling for a ban on this practice.
The petition notes the Liberal Party committed to banning the live export of horses for slaughter in its September 2021 election campaign platform.
Sponsored by NDP MP Alastair MacGregor, the petition will be presented in the House of Commons after it expires on Feb. 7.
"The world is watching," Arden said in an interview with CBC News. "When we're being really taught and scolded about how we are living our lives, thinking local, eating local, eating less meat, watching our carbon footprint, not flying around, never mind flying horses every few weeks, 8,000 kilometres, so that rich people can eat raw horse meat."
Lumax vehemently disagrees with a ban, which he says will kill an industry bringing in tens of millions of dollars to the Canadian economy — money that is reinvested on feed, equipment, diesel, staff salaries and the colts bred for this purpose.
In a statement to CBC News, Bibeau said "we are engaging with key stakeholders to determine the best course of action to ban the export of live horses for slaughter. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to enforce the relevant regulations to ensure that horses are fit for travel and transported humanely."
A CFIA spokesperson could not say if the issue will come up at the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.
Part of the complication is how to make changes without impacting the transportation of horses for other reasons, like going to the Olympics or to London for Queen Elizabeth's funeral.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Parents teaching love for all animals
Vegan family trying to set example with activism against factory farming, abuse
As a teenager, Danae Tonge came upon a book in the library about animal factories and told her parents she was going vegan.
“My parents made me write a report and present it to them about why I wanted to go vegan. They made sure I was prepared,” said the now 39-year-old mother of two young children. With her husband, the couple is raising their family with a keen awareness of the world they live in.
Known among friends and colleagues as a thoughtful person who uses kindness and compassion to lead people to make better choices for animals and the environment, Tonge does so by example.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG
FREE PRESS
Danae Tonge and her two children, Harley, 7, left, and Hale, 3, enjoy
snacks at their dinner table. Danae is a longtime vegan and an animal
rights activist who is raising her kids as vegans.
“My husband and I are teaching our children the values of love and compassion, how that extends to everyone, humans and animals and the planet, how connected we all are, and how we need to take care of each other, that we have a responsibility to stand up against things that harm others, and to help,” said Tonge.
“Not eating animals or animal products is one of the best ways to help. Animals are our friends, not food. They are our family members. When we look at our pets, we don’t see food, we see an individual.
“When I had my daughter, that’s when I said I need to get involved. All these mom cows have their babies taken away from them so soon after birth. I felt the connection while nursing.”
She’s been a co-organizer and active member of Manitoba Animal Save ever since.
MAS works to end violence, exploitation and oppression of animals through bearing witness, love-based activism and political change. Tonge has organized many peaceful demonstrations that she has allowed her children to attend.
“I try to involve them as much as I can. I will often bring Harley and Hale to a protest or rally with me, so activism is normalized for them, so they can see many people working to change things and make the world better, and they can grow up around the helpers. I want them to know that if they don’t like something, they have a voice and they can use it, and they will find others like them who are also fighting for something.”
MAS campaigns have worked against the mass slaughter of pigs and chickens in Manitoba, and shipments of live horses for slaughter to Japan via Winnipeg’s international airport. MAS spent several years documenting and exposing the live horse transports before the issue gained media attention.
Corey Feere, 34, has been working alongside Tonge with MAS for the past five years, and has volunteered and worked in animal rescue in some capacity since he was 15. The longtime vegan works in the railway industry when he’s not dedicating his time to giving a voice to animals.
Feere said the “airport” horses are sent to Japan to be fattened up and then killed to be turned into a type of sushi popular among Japan’s wealthy.
He said that through the work of MAS, as well the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition and Calgary Animal Save, organizations such as the Winnipeg Humane Society and celebrities including Jann Arden and Bif Naked have become advocates in stopping the live horse shipments and putting an end to the horse meat industry in Canada.
“We have created exposure to many atrocities of the animal agriculture industry in the past six years, both locally and beyond the Manitoba borders,” Feere said.
“It’s important to put your time and energy into causes you really agree with,” added Tonge, who has also given time to a number of local non-profit organizations involving youth and women. “I’ve learned a lot; it feels good to be part of a community, to give your time, to show up for things you believe.”
Noting that animal farming’s global environmental footprint is frequently being overlooked in climate-crisis summits, Tonge voices her passion about speaking up for the otherwise hidden lives of farmed animals, whose plight is often unrecognized by most of society.
“Being a vegan is more than just different food choices. People start to notice and ask questions, and it is a great conversation-starter to help pull back the veil on how cruel and damaging animal agriculture truly is. While I’m somewhat hopeless on being able to turn the climate crisis around at this point, I’m hopeful because veganism is becoming part of the mainstream dialogue, and starting important conversations. I’m grateful that it’s gained public support and there are vegan options almost anywhere, and that I can raise vegan children without much difficulty. I believe the future is plant-based and that our children will be in good company with many other vegan children.”
Creating a world with empathy and kindness as its core fuels Tonge’s drive to raise her children to be part of a new, informed generation that will take the lead in being sensitive to the needs of all beings.
“Society and animal agriculture work so hard to override the innate compassion and understanding that children have, but if we can allow that to grow and flourish on its own by choosing plant-based foods, we aren’t creating that inner divide that many people have, of pets versus farmed animals, of ‘speciesism.’ All life is sacred, is valuable, and we all have a right to be here. Veganism, to me, is about love. About love for animals, the planet, and love for yourself and other humans.”
You don’t have to be vegan to support MAS, any other animal-rights group, or those addressing climate change, Tonge says. It’s about getting involved with something with which there’s an emotional connection.
MAS, which is on Facebook and Instagram, produces a biweekly newsletter and sends out action alerts.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
Press Release March 24, 2023
Regan Russell killer to enter a plea at Halton Court as family submit impact statements and campaigners unite for worldwide vigils to call for justice for Regan
Media Contacts:
Bill Russell, father of Regan Russell: contact via Anita Krajnc or Lori Croonen
Anita Krajnc, co-founder of Toronto Pig Save: (416) 825-6080
Lori Croonen, Toronto Pig Save organizer: TorontoPigSave@gmail.com, www.TorontoPigSave.org
When: March 27, 2023
Schedule of events:
7:30–8 am
Location: Harvester Road, just North of Appleby Line
Banner drop at the bridge over Highway 401
8:15-noon
Location: Halton Court, 4085 Palladium Way, Burlington, Canada
Courthouse vigil outside the courthouse
8.45 am
Bill and Pat Russell, Regan’s parents and Shannon Fromm, Regan’s sister, submit victim impact statements to Halton Court.
10 am
Plea hearing for Andrew Blake, truck driver of Brussels Transport Ltd
FB event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1265044111115815
Media files: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/5/folders/1QO4qzSEVanwzGORBEyoeEmpP4huYhkA8
Burlington, March 24, 2023 - On Monday, March 27, at 10 am EST, the Halton Court in Burlington will be holding a plea hearing for Andrew Blake, of Brussels Transport Ltd. Blake was charged with one count of careless driving causing death under the Highway Traffic Act. Animal rights activist Regan Russell was struck and killed on June 19, 2020, by a pig transport truck after a Toronto Pig Save vigil in front of Fearmans Pork Inc. pig slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario.
Bill Russell, father of Regan Russell, in Opinion Piece published in the Hamilton Spectator on Sunday, March 19th, 2023, wrote, “We believe our darling Regan’s violent death is worthy of a more detailed, meticulous, intensive investigation than what culminated as a mere moment of “careless driving,” writes Bill Russell
“We hope that the prosecution and courts take seriously that the driver’s activity poses a threat to legitimate protest and hope that the justice system addresses this in considering his case,” says Lori Croonen, a witness the day Regan died. “Even though this is an offense under the Highways Traffic Act this should not diminish the impact Blake has had on Regan’s family in particular who supported her activism and the animal rights community at large.”
Animal rights activists in Canada and worldwide feel equally saddened and inspired and energized even more, to continue to engage in this form of expression.
Vigils will be held worldwide on Monday, March 27 to honour her legacy. “Regan died doing what she most cared about. The justice we want are more systemic changes, not just to punish the pig transport truck driver. This is an opportunity to remember her legacy by holding worldwide vigils and also address systemic issues that led to the unsafe environment that resulted in this tragedy,” says Anita Krajnc, co-founder of Toronto Pig Save.
Background
Regan Russell (65) was a decades-long pioneer in Canadian animal rights activism who had peacefully campaigned on behalf of non-human animals for over 40 years. On June 19th 2020, she was violently struck and killed by a transport truck carrying pigs entering Sofina’s Fearmans slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario. She was attending a special pig vigil with Toronto Pig Save to protest Bill 156, which had passed the previous day and to bear witness to some of the 10,000 sentient beings who are violently killed there each day.
Resources
Bill Russell, opinion piece, Hamilton Spectator (also printed in Kitchener Record), March 19, 2023 https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2023/03/19/regan-russells-father-seeks-justice.html?fbclid=IwAR2l0JHrFaC9jynkauUC6hffcLy4oqqXSeBPrXXgJXapmMnMLYtZiXzXmr0
Documentaries about Regan Russell
There Was A Killing - directed by Shaun Monson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7fxDT2fHUo&t=6s
Regan Russell - A Short Film - Animal Save Movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9gesaSG2E
Animal Rights Activist Regan Russell Killed at Pig Vigil - NowThis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg7FXmMPhAQ
Go Vegan for Regan
For the latest Go Vegan for Regan news updates, follow: https://www.facebook.com/GoVegan4Regan
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/19QeTRSRzU8SjaX99aHTY4OK8O-kwuxmq
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
150 First St.,
P.O. Box 21079
Orangeville, ON
L9W 4S7
Canada
Get in touch with us!
Please remember to include your full name. Thank you!
CHDC Lawsuit
September 3, 2023
Highlights of the CHDC lawsuit against the CFIA and the Minister of Agriculture regarding live draft horse shipments to Japan for slaughter for human consumption.
Update on the CHDC lawsuit against the CFIA:
December 2, 2021: WE HAVE BREAKING NEWS!!
Unfortunately, on December 10, 2019, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) lost the horse slaughter lawsuit against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency regarding the live draft horse shipments to Japan for slaughter.
However, an appeal was subsequently filed and on October 16, 2020, the Memorandum of Fact and Law (our lawyer’s argument) was submitted to the Federal Court of Appeal. The CFIA then responded with their own argument.
As of December 2020, we are currently waiting for the Court to set our appeal date.
This is what the CHDC’s lawyer Rebeka Breder had to say in December 2019:
“The court found that the CFIA does not have to follow its regulations and that it has the discretion to decide how to enforce them. We strongly disagree.
In this particular case, the law is abundantly clear that inspections of all horses must be done (by CFIA inspectors) prior to all shipments, and that all shipments must be certified as being compliant with the law.
For years, these inspectors have been certifying these shipments, even though horses were being shipped contrary to the law (ie, crammed horses into small crates, instead of being separated to avoid harming each other; and not providing enough headroom)
December 10th, 2019. Rebeka Breder writes:
“We are incredibly disappointed to learn that we lost the horse slaughter lawsuit against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The court found that the CFIA does not have to follow its regulations and that it has the discretion to decide how to enforce them. We strongly disagree.
In this particular case, the law is abundantly clear that inspections of all horses must be done (by CFIA inspectors) prior to all shipments, and that all shipments must be certified as being compliant with the law.
For years, these inspectors have been certifying these shipments, even though horses were being shipped contrary to the law (ie, crammed horses into small crates, instead of being separated to avoid harming each other; and not providing enough headroom).
In 2018 the CHDC sued the CFIA. This is the original press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CHDC SUES CFIA FOR OVERCROWDING OF HORSES EXPORTED FOR SLAUGHTER
September 6, 2018 · by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
For Immediate Release September 6, 2018
No More Horsing Around – Animal Protection Group Sues CFIA for Overcrowding of Horses Exported for Slaughter
Vancouver, B.C.:
The not-for-profit Animal Protection group, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC), filed for judicial review in the Federal Court. The lawsuit challenges violations of two sections of the Health of Animals Regulations (HAR) and names the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food as the respondent. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Health of Animals Act and the HAR.
“The law in regard to the live export of horses for slaughter is clear. Sections 141(8) and 142(a) of the Health of Animals Regulations say that horses over 14 hands in height (the size of a large pony) must be segregated, and horses must be able to stand in a natural position. These provisions exist to ensure the humane transport of horses, yet the CFIA consistently violates the law by allowing the overcrowding of horses and by allowing horses’ heads to touch the tops of crates, when live horses are shipped by air cargo to Japan for slaughter” states the lawyer for the CHDC, Rebeka Breder.
Since 2012, the CHDC has studied conditions under which live horses are exported to Japan for human consumption. Photographic and video evidence has consistently revealed that even large draft horses have been crammed together for export purposes, sometimes as many as three or four per wooden crate, and that the ears of very tall horses have been seen to breach the netting covering the tops of crates. There is also evidence of horses dying and injuring themselves.
“This legal challenge certainly pits David against Goliath,” observes Sinikka Crosland, Executive Director of CHDC. “But the CFIA is not above the law. The government has certain legal and ethical obligations, which cannot be swept under the rug.”
Please consider donating to the CHDC to support this legal challenge.
For more information, contact:
Breder Law (attention: Rebeka Breder)
Solicitor for the Applicant (CHDC)
Phone: (604)449-0215
E-mail: rbreder@brederlaw.com
OR
Sinikka Crosland, Executive Director
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
Phone: 250-833-1964
E-mail: sinikka@defendhorsescanada.org