A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan plant recently profiled on CBC TV for its alleged inhumane horse slaughter says it operates at the highest standard.
David Fiddler, a shareholder, horse breeder and spokesperson who has been involved with Natural Valley Farms since its inception, said the Neudorf plant and Canadian Food Inspection Agency are working together on a pilot project to ensure humane animal care throughout the slaughter process.
The plant is operating at a 97 percent compliance rate with federal regulations, he said.
“Natural Valley Farms is operating above the standard set,” Fiddler said June 30. The standard is 95 percent compliance.
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Employees were devastated when the report, featuring hidden camera footage apparently taken in the plant, was broadcast June 9, Fiddler said.
The footage shows one employee struggling to stun a horse and horses slipping on the kill pen floor. Fiddler said Natural Valley is still analyzing the video.
“We have to verify it,” he said. “There is the possibility not all of the footage was actually from our plant.”
He said some of the pictures look similar to video released in 1998 by American animal rights group called Animal Angels Horse Rescue.
Other observers have also questioned the authenticity of the video. The images are dark and fuzzy at times.
The Saskatchewan Horse Federation last week said it has been investigating and found many claims in the documentary to be inaccurate.
A written response issued by the federation noted that any photos can be manipulated and some of the footage looks like the same horse shown over and over.
The video suggests a CFIA veterinarian didn’t take any steps to stop what was going on.
Fiddler noted a vet must always be present during slaughter and just because he doesn’t appear on the video doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.
“The kill stops if he has to go to the bathroom,” he said.
“If he has to leave for any reason, not an animal can move.”
The federation said if the veterinarian didn’t stop anything that’s likely because no rules were breached. Fiddler said the plant would immediately take steps if an investigation found instances of animal cruelty or that regulations weren’t being followed.
CBC officials in Regina and Toronto did not respond to requests for comment.
Natural Valley continues to kill about 180 horses each day. It is one of seven plants in Canada slaughtering horses mainly for the European market, although Fiddler noted horse meat is also consumed in Quebec.
The meat is packaged and boxed at Natural Valley’s Wolseley, Sask., facility. The company employs more than 100 people, more than half of whom are First Nations.
“We’re kind of a success story in a lot of ways,” Fiddler said.
Some of the horses killed in Canadian plants are coming from the United States where horse slaughter is banned.
Norm Luba, executive director of the North American Equine Ranching Information Council in Louisville, Kentucky, said he hadn’t seen the CBC tape but heard about it.
“I know that the CFIA has veterinarians that are there and are overseeing the plant,” he said in an interview at the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association convention.
“They are an objective organization and if they believe that things are happening the way they should be happening, I think the general public can be assured that things are OK there.”
Luba said Canadians should be wary of activists who have pressured state legislators in Texas and Illinois to close the three horse slaughter plants in the U.S.
“This horse processing debate I think is just the beginning,” he said.
Several organizations, the government and Natural Valley are planning a forum later this summer to discuss horse slaughter issues.
