Every year, Canada ships thousands of live horses to Japan, where they are violently killed in slaughterhouses and eaten raw as a delicacy. These horses are bred for the industry, raised in barren feedlots, and exported from airports in Alberta and Manitoba in tiny crates. They are forced to go without food, water, or rest for the duration of the long and terrifying journey, which can lawfully take up to 28 hours, but is at times even longer.
The federal Liberal Party promised to ban this cruel practice during their last election campaign, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau included a ban on live horse exports in his December 2021 mandate letter to then-Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau. But despite consistent pressure from animal advocacy groups and the public, including protests, and a widely-supported parliamentary petition, Bibeau failed to take any meaningful action to protect horses from this horrific suffering.
New Agriculture Minister MacAulay Should End Live Exports Now
Last month, Lawrence MacAulay was appointed as the new Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Minister MacAulay should make stopping the live export of horses for slaughter an immediate priority. The longer the delay, the more horses will experience pain and torture in this cruel and unnecessary industry.
Though the previous minister failed to take action to make good on the commitment to ban the export of live horses for slaughter overseas, there have been exciting developments from other lawmakers.
In June 2023, Senator Pierre Dalphond introduced Bill S-270, the Horse Protection Act. If passed, the bill would finally ban this cruel practice. Liberal MP Tim Louis also announced that he intends to introduce a private member’s bill in the House of Commons this fall to outlaw live horse exports.
Please join us in keeping up the pressure! Take action and share Animal Justice’s petition calling on Minister MacAulay to support these important bills and ensure their swift passage in order to ban the cruel export of live horses for slaughter.
Banner: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
