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WHY BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER?

The following are the key elements that explain the need to permanently ban equine slaughter:

A. This is a PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. 

Horses are companion animals and working partners, not food producing animals, and are routinely administered a variety of substances that are prohibited from entering the human food chain. The residues of many of these remain in a horse's body for its lifetime and can cause cancer and a myriad of other health problems.

Horses are not regulated as food animals in Canada, and gaps in regulation allow meat into the food chain that is not fit for human consumption. The horse passport that Canada relies on to keep toxic meat off dinner plates around the world is open to fraud and error.

B. This is an ANIMAL CRUELTY ISSUE. 

Horses cannot be slaughtered humanely under any circumstances. Their panic combined with their flight instinct and quick head movement makes it impossible to effectively stun horses. Hidden camera videos in modern equine slaughter plants in Canada have proven conclusively that over 40 percent of horses are still conscious and in excruciating pain when they are slung and gutted. Further, once they are in the hands of local kill buyers they are treated as the walking dead both in holding lots and transport and are horribly abused and neglected. Vast feedlots in Alberta hold tens of thousands of horses that have no shelter from the elements and receive no care. 

Many Canadians believe that this industry must be abolished on humane grounds.  A recent poll showed 70% of Canadians do not support horse slaughter for human consumption. We believe that number would be much higher if people knew the facts of this hidden industry. 

C. This is an ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE.

Horses have almost double the amount of blood of cattle and it does not break down into a useable byproduct. In 2009, a Saskatchewan horse slaughter plant was discovered illegally dumping horse blood on local fields, contaminating a nearby river. In U.S. towns where horse slaughter plants operated, communities suffered odours and fouled drinking water, along with increased crime rates, horse theft and depressed real estate prices. 

D. This is a SOCIETAL ISSUE.

Horse slaughter in Canada has encouraged overbreeding and allowed irresponsibility, neglect and theft. Horse Slaughter does not prevent starvation, but rather allows those who neglect horses to be monetarily rewarded for dumping animals at auctions  that are suffering and require vet care, and carry on to neglect more animals, with no repercussions. Stolen horses can be slaughtered with no proof of ownership. 

U.S. states that have banned slaughter, have experienced fewer neglect and theft cases, despite the industry’s claim that slaughter prevents neglect and starvation. It’s a myth that the closure of U.S. slaughter plants caused an increase in neglect. Horses could be sent to an auction and sold to slaughter the same as always. A temporary hay shortage coincided with the closure of the plants, and there was a momentary increase in neglect cases. 

Society is increasingly demanding humane treatment of animals. Banning equine slaughter would be a huge step in this direction, that we believe the majority of Canadians would support. 

E. This is a FAIRNESS ISSUE.

Horse owners pay tax on all products purchased for horses, as horses are classified as pets. Yet once sold to slaughter, the horses are reclassified as livestock

Recreational horse owners contribute $billions to the Canadian economy annually, compared to the horse slaughter industry that brings in approximately $80 million, all to profit one company and fewer than 300 workers. Meantime, privately owned horses are never safe from the predatory slaughter industry. 

It’s time for society to evolve and take humane and responsible treatment of animals seriously.