Bill C-355 Media Campaign Takes to the Streets of Ottawa

The Second Reading of Bill C-355, An Act to prohibit the export by air of horses for slaughter and to make related amendments to certain Acts, has been scheduled for Monday, November 20th, 2023.

MP Tim Louis (Kitchener-Conestoga) introduced Bill C- 355, a Private Member’s Bill, in the House of Commons on September 19th , 2023. If passed, Bill C-355 will prohibit the export by air from Canada of live horses for the purpose of being slaughtered or fattened for slaughter and will make changes to related amendments to certain Acts.

The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, along with Manitoba Animal Save, is launching a media campaign to garner support for this bill to pass. Our campaign is intended to alert Members of Parliament and the citizens of Ottawa in the days leading up to the Second Reading of this bill. We will have two creatives depicting Canadian icon Jann Arden with horses, featured on the back and sides of an Accent Media Corp. panel van driving around downtown Ottawa, near the Parliament Buildings. The ads will run from 8AM-12PM on Thursday, November 16th , 8AM-12PM on Friday, November 17th , and 8AM -12PM on Monday, November 20th , 2023.

Canada currently ships live horses to Japan, where they are slaughtered, and their meat is served raw as a delicacy. Three Canadian airports ship these large-breed horses: Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. Draft horses are brought to the airports from regions several hours away, to be crated with 3-4 other horses, and loaded onto planes. The planes are so heavy that they must stop in Alaska to refuel.

Like all farmed animals that face the horror of live export, horses are transported extremely long distances, without food, water, or rest. In Canada, it is legal for horses to be in transit for up to 28 hours. Horses are flight creatures, and easily panicked. They are extremely stressed by the noise, the turbulence, the take-off and landing of the plane. Horses will often fall during the flight and be found down in their crate upon arrival.

The exporting of live horses to Japan as air cargo violates all reasonable animal welfare expectations. The legal transport time is 28 hours, but often the transport exceeds this already lengthy allowable time frame, as outlined in section 152.2 of Canada’s Health of Animal Regulations. In December 2022, a flight leaving Winnipeg Airport was delayed, and had the horses in transport for more than 30 hours.

Once the horses arrive in Japan, they are taken to a quarantine location for several weeks, then to a feedlot where they await slaughter. At the feedlot, they are crammed together to restrict their exercise and are fed a diet to promote fatty, marbled meat, which is what consumers pay high prices for.

On December 16th , 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a mandate letter to his Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, informing them that these live exports are to be banned. Yet, these shipments continue to leave Canada nearly two years later.

Canadians are outraged at this industry and have expressed concerns about the live export of horses for slaughter. Now is the time for Canada to end the cruelty.

Contact:
Sinikka Crosland
President, Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
sinikka@defendhorsescanada.org

Loni Stewart
Director of Administration and Research, Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
lonita@defendhorsescanada.org

Danae Tonge
Manitoba Animal Save
manitobaanimalsave@gmail.com