‘Horses are at risk’: Animal welfare groups say transport deaths underreported to CFIA

A new report by animal welfare organizations in Canada and Japan about the controversial practice of exporting live horses for slaughter says government officials are being misled by industry.

Canada’s Animal Justice and Japan’s Life Investigation Agency teamed up for the study, which they say reveals that the number of horses who have died as a result of the journey between the two countries is drastically higher than records reported by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Kaitlyn Mitchell, Animal Justice’s director of legal advocacy, told Global Winnipeg that flights transporting the animals are often more than 28 hours long without food, water or rest — violating legal limits — and that horses have died from a variety of injuries and illnesses after the flights, and sometimes en route.

“It’s one of those situations where you don’t want to be right, but it looks like we were,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve been saying this a number of times, veterinary experts have been saying this a number of times — we’ve all been saying these horses are at risk of dying from shipping fever, they’re at risk of compromised immune systems, they’re at risk of injury.

“Those are exactly the things we’re seeing materializing.”

2:25 Horse Exporting

Mitchell said Japanese government records show that as many as 21 horses in one year alone have died from stress, dehydration and other conditions — a far cry from the CFIA’s stats, which say only five horses have died as a result of the flights since 2013.

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“If we know about 20 or more dying each year, then I think the number could be quite staggering in a 10-year period,” she said.

“We let the CFIA know beforehand that this (report) was coming…. As soon as we saw this, we thought, they need to know, they’re the regulators — and it looks like the industry is not telling them at all what’s happening here.

“I’m hoping that they will take the matter seriously, that they will follow up.”

In a statement Thursday, Ren Yabuki, director of Life Investigation Agency in Japan, said, ideally, the practice of transporting live horses overseas should be quashed by both countries.

“The Japanese government should immediately ban acts that violate the welfare of animals,” Yabuki said.

“Unfortunately, we can’t expect much from Japan because people’s awareness of animal welfare is very low and local laws treat animals as ‘possessions’.

“As the reality of horses being transported to Japan come to light, I strongly urge that the Canadian government and people immediately ban such practices.”

A bill aimed at banning the air export of Canadian horses for slaughter, Bill C-355, was passed by the House of Commons in January and is now awaiting second reading by the Senate before it can become law.

The Canadian Equine Exporters Association has consistently disputed the welfare organizations’ claims on this issue, telling Global News in July that the horse meat industry is highly regulated in Canada, and that horses are thoroughly inspected by CFIA veterinarians before they leave the country and again once they arrive in Japan.

The CFIA says it’s aware of Animal Justice’s allegations and that it takes their concerns very seriously.

In a statement, the agency said it has begun taking immediate steps in response to the complaints, and will be reviewing the Japanese government documents included in the report once they’re translated.

“The statistics on horse deaths available on the CFIA web site and presented before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food were based on information available to the CFIA at the time,” the statement said.

“Should additional deaths or serious injuries related to air transport be confirmed, the CFIA will revise its information accordingly and notify the Standing Committee.

“The CFIA will be communicating with all air carriers that transport animals to remind them about their reporting obligations under the Health of Animals Regulations. As a priority action, the CFIA will be requesting a meeting with the primary air carrier of horses to Japan in the coming days.”

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