Animal Justice’s director of legal advocacy Kaitlyn Mitchell testified before the House of Commons Agriculture Committee today in support of Bill C-355, important legislation aiming to ban the live export of Canadian horses to Japan for slaughter.
The committee meeting is part of the study stage of the bill, where legislation is reviewed and may be amended before it reaches a final vote in the House of Commons. If Bill C-355 successfully passes the vote, it will move on to the Senate where it will face further debate and study, and hopefully be passed into law.
Exporting live horses for slaughter is a cruel and needless industry that Canadians widely condemn. Thanks to high-profile media exposure and persistent advocacy efforts, public awareness of this secretive practice has grown significantly in recent years, and so have calls to end it forever.
Every year in Canada, thousands of large, gentle draft horses are bred in barren feedlots, packed into wooden crates, and flown in cargo planes from airports in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. These shipments often take place in the middle of the night, away from public view.
During the shipments, terrified horses are denied food, water and rest until the trip is finally over. Legally, these exports can take up to 28 hours, but in some instances, shipments have gone even longer. When horses arrive in Japan, they are fattened, slaughtered, and eaten as sashimi—a raw delicacy for the rich.
While it’s heartbreaking to know that horses continue to suffer in this industry, we’re inspired by the progress being made to end these nightmare shipments once and for all.
Please join us in keeping up the pressure to ban the export of Canadian horses for slaughter by taking action now.
Banner: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
