TORONTO—Ontario’s proposed ban on slaughtering or processing horses at provincially licensed meat plants is being welcomed by Animal Justice, Canada’s leading animal law organization.
Updates to the Food Safety and Quality Act would ban the killing of horses at Ontario-licensed slaughterhouses, as well as processing, packaging, or distributing horse meat at provincially licensed meat plants—including meat received from federally licensed slaughterhouses.
The province says recent public attention to horse welfare prompted the proposed changes. In addition to horses, the proposed changes would apply to all equines, including donkeys and mules.
Animal Justice is applauding this move while also urging the province to go a step further by also banning the transport of horses and other equines for slaughter. A similar law in New York State recently prompted police there to stop a shipment of horses bound for slaughter in Canada.
Since the US no longer allows horse slaughter, American horse dealers instead ship horses to Canada to be killed. A bipartisan bill currently under consideration in the US would prohibit transporting horses for slaughter, and exporting them to Canada for slaughter.
Numerous investigations have exposed horses suffering in Canada’s horse slaughter chain. What’s more, the two main breeders that supply Canada’s notorious horse export-for-slaughter industry are located in Ontario.
Although Canada refuses to disclose the number of horses killed annually for food, statistics suggest that more than 10,000 horses from Canada and the US are slaughtered each year in this country.
“Ontarians simply don’t accept the cruel horse slaughter industry, and we applaud Ontario for listening to the public and aligning animal protection laws with our community values,” said Camille Labchuk, lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice.
“But by taking the extra step of banning the transport of horses for slaughter throughout Ontario, the province could go further still—protecting gentle, sensitive animals from the gruelling, multi-day journeys that end in a slaughterhouse.”
Canada’s largest horse slaughterhouse in Alberta recently closed, leaving one remaining horse slaughterhouse operating in Quebec. When passed, Ontario’s new regulations will ensure no horse slaughterhouses will open in this province.
More information on Ontario’s proposal to ban equine slaughter can be found here.
Contact:
Josh Lynn
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
Camille Labchuk
Executive Director
[email protected]