~INFO ON HORSE SLAUGHTER~

[Kirsten]

There is still no end in site. Horse Slaughter was abolished in the United States, however, thousands of horses are still transported weekly from the United States to Canada and Mexico slaughter plants.

"In 2007, the last U.S. equine slaughterhouse in Dekalb, Illinois, was forced to close its doors due
to upholding of state legislation. Horses are therefore no longer being slaughtered in the United States.
(That by itself is wonderful news!) However, since the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act has not yet
been enacted (along with protective provisions that would ban transport for slaughter as well), horses have
been moving south to Mexico and north to Canada en masse. In 2006, 50,242 horses were killed in Canadian
abattoirs. In 2007, this figure rose to nearly 80,000. USDA statistics indicate that there has been a 46%
increase in the numbers of horses exported to Canada from the U.S.: 18,901 in 2006 and 27,688 in 2007.
The horse killing industry in Canada has responded to U.S. slaughterhouse closures with a colossal
effort to cash in. Canada is fast becoming the horse slaughter capital of the world, boasting seven
slaughterhouses that are now licensed to kill horses. The ultimate betrayal of our equine companions is
federally sanctioned in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. The most recent addition to the
list is Norval Meats at Proton Station, Ontario.
Detailed information on individual slaughter plants can be found here:
active.inspection.gc.ca/scripts/meavia/reglist/reglist.asp?lang=e (click on horses and then hit Submit)."

Many people turn a blind eye and many people still believe in the old stereo type that only "sick, lame and old" horses are sent to the slaughter house. This is NOT true! The majority of the horses sent to be slaughtered are HEALTHY, YOUNG, SOUND and FULL OF POTENTIAL! Their meat is a fancy delicacy in Europe so there is a very high demand for it.

CBC recently did a very good documentary on this issue:
www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/no_country_for_horses/no_country_for_horses.html

More links:

www.defendhorsescanada.org/pdf/envf0802.pdf
www.stophorseslaughter.com
community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_horseslaughter_notcosponsor

[janet]

As being new to owning our own horse, no matter what this shocks me that this is allowed in Canada. People are looking for horses to own. There should be a site for people who want to give up there horse instead of sending it out to be slaughtered. I am an animal lover period and this is wrong.

[Kirsten]

The thing is, many people send their horses to auctions and this can be the worst case scenario for a horse, as the auctions are packed with kill buyers aka meat men. Horses these days are going for next to nothing at these auctions and the kill buyers are filling their pockets.

A trailer filled with just 15 horses brings in $3000.00 for them!!! Crazy!

[shan78]

If the Canadian Gov't abolishes the slaughter of horses, there will be horses starving everywhere - mostly due to the fact that most people will not stop breeding any horse that's breeding sound. Backyard breeders and larger breeding operations are both guilty of producing horses with bad conformation, mediocre bloodlines and NO market (but slaughter).

It would be far better for horses if the gov't would put a limit on breeding. They could require that people buy a breeding permit or have a breeding license, with a percentage of the income from such permits/licenses going to help maintain equine rescues etc. They could also enforce such licenses/permits with hefty fines for those that decide they will breed horses without one, again a percentage of that money could go to rescues. Maybe that would stop every tom/thingy/harry from breeding so many horses that just end up in slaughter plants.

[Kirsten]

I really like your idea of breeding permits!! Canada definitely needs to look at other options to limit the amount of breeding.

It is crazy the amount of people that I hear say "I wanna breed my mare cause it will be sooo cute to have a little foal around!" Ummm ok. Yikes!!