Writing animal welfare law is a complex business.
Some people treat their animals like property. Others treat them like children.
Terry Whiting, Manitoba Agriculture’s manager of animal health and welfare, said societal preferences change and that affects how people view the issue.
He told the recent Saskatchewan Horse Federation conference that moral issues are at work.
For example, people traditionally agreed that raising livestock to make a living was an acceptable practice and a good thing to do.
But as people begin to question those types of preferences, the practice can take on moral qualities and become values.
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That’s when society starts looking at laws.
Whiting said behaviour that can injure someone or something else is subject to moralization.
A human example is smoking. Whiting said there were no laws until concerns were raised about second-hand smoke killing people other than the smokers themselves.
“You moralize and then you criminalize,” he said. “There is a societal movement that is moralizing the way we deal with animals.”
Whiting said it has been difficult to pass animal welfare legislation in Canada because it is controversial. He noted the federal Liberal government first introduced the legislation 10 years ago.
He said laws have to reflect the common morality of society but that can be difficult to articulate.
“We have to continually realign animal use with societal values while maintaining personal liberty,” Whiting said. “That’s really tough.”
He noted that farm animals are exempt from animal welfare laws in almost every American state.
Whiting said the decision in the United States to ban horse slaughter wasn’t about animal welfare.
Rather, it was about the mythical role horses play in the United States’ “wild west” culture.
“That belief is way more important than how many horses suffer,” Whiting said. “It’s not about horses. It’s about how Americans see themselves.”
Animal welfare experts have expressed concern that horses are left in pain and discomfort because of the ban, when humane slaughter would be the best course of action.
Saskatchewan Horse Federation president Mary-Ann Olson said the organization advocates humane treatment of horses throughout their lives.
“SHF recognizes that the processing of horses is a reality of the equine industry and provides a humane alternative to allowing the horses to continue a life of discomfort and pain, inadequate care or abandonment,” says the organization’s policy position statement.
