Our ZOOM meeting with the All-Party Animal Welfare Caucus on January 21, 2021 was proof of the fact that the well-being of horses matters to a surprising number of our representatives in government. The session was well attended and we couldn’t help but be inspired by the interest and energy that filled the “room”.
As Chair of the Caucus, MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith led the meeting and introduced the speakers. Our focus was on the live export of horses overseas for slaughter.
Public opinion polls and petitions on horse slaughter were covered in introductory comments by Sinikka Crosland, and then Jann Arden described the shock and horror of witnessing first-hand how large draft horses are crammed into tiny wooden crates at Calgary airport before being flown to their deaths in foreign countries.
Lawyer Rebeka Breder followed with an update on CHDC’s legal case against the CFIA, and animal behaviourist Dr. Rebecca Ledger provided compelling scientific evidence of the suffering of horses during transport.
We are very grateful to MP Erskine-Smith and his assistant, Kaeleigh Phillips, for providing this opportunity to bring our concerns to the Animal Welfare Caucus. We applaud the dedicated, compassionate efforts of Jann Arden to raise public awareness, and the professionalism of Rebeka Breder and Dr. Rebecca Ledger, who both took the time to provide their expert commentary.
We would also like to thank everyone who attended this important meeting, and we hope that the awareness raised will ultimately result in an end to the appalling practice of shipping horses overseas for slaughter.
Following this meeting Jann was a guest on the Lynda Steele podcast.
