Science versus emotion in horse export battle

A federal private member’s bill that aims to ban the air export of live horses for slaughter has some base ingredients for political success.

The bill, C-355, was introduced by a Liberal MP, currently the governing party, and is backed by celebrity endorsements. At its centre is an animal that pulls at many Canadian heartstrings.

Opponents, however, say it is based solely on emotion and the issue would benefit from a more practical approach.

“It is basically an emotional issue that has been brought forward that lacks the science and the facts to back it up,” said Canadian Equine Exporters Association (CEEA) board member Kevin Wilson. “They lack the understanding and full knowledge of our industry.”

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Wilson and CEEA president William Shore took their arguements to Ottawa March 21, testifying in opposition to Bill C-355 before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Live horse exports for slaughter have long been a focus of animal welfare activist groups, and shipment by air has been a particular sticking point. Those groups have argued that horses are easily spooked, and they criticize the length of time the animals endure between periods with rest, food and water.

In December 2021, the issue entered the legislative arena. The mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to then federal ag minister Marie-Claude Bibeau listed a single bullet point on the matter: “Ban the live export of horses for slaughter.”

Eighteen months later, a campaign to end live horse exports, led by Canadian musical celebrity Jann Arden, brought the issue to the forefront in Parliament. She spearheaded a public petition against the live horse trade that gathered 36,000 signatures, which was submitted to parliament in February 2023.

Bibeau’s answer to the petition was bittersweet for petition signatories. On one hand, she said she remained committed to banning the export of live horses for slaughter. On the other hand, she said it wouldn’t be easy.

“This complex issue touches on a number of key considerations, including legal obligations, international trade commitments and relations, acts and regulations involving animals more broadly, and mechanisms for implementation and enforcement,” the minister’s statement of response read.

Arden’s activism paid off in June last year, when she and Senator Pierre Dalphond jointly announced Senate Bill S-270, which would have amended the Health of Animals Act to prohibit Canadian export of live horses and other equines for slaughter.

That bill was put on hold in September 2023, when Liberal MP Tim Louis’s private member’s Bill C-355 received its first reading in the House of Commons. The senate bill was dropped from the order paper this spring.

The new legislation reaching the House was dubbed the Prohibition of the Export of Horses by Air for Slaughter Act. Unlike its Senate-introduced predecessor, Bill C-355 narrowed the legislation’s focus to animals shipped by air.

According to industry and government numbers, virtually all exports of live horses for slaughter are by air, and almost all go to Japan.

On its frequently asked questions webpage, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition said that, while the group would have preferred to see all forms of transport banned, they were wary of asking too much from the government.

“Small steps are sometimes more effective in achieving our goals because there is less risk of industry convincing our leaders that the steps being taken are too drastic and unfair,” the website reads.

The CEEA argues the bill would gut its members’ livelihoods and leave them without recourse.

“This will cause a huge animal welfare issue for the nearly 13,000 purpose-bred draft horses that are involved in this market,” said Wilson.

“What are these breeders supposed to do with these mares, stallions and foals that they have invested in to feed their families? Nowhere in this bill have we seen any talk of compensation towards these farmers.”

Wilson also said he fears Bill C-355 is just the thin edge of the wedge.

“We believe, as an industry, that this is a very slippery slope. We want to make all of agriculture aware that we’re the low-hanging fruit; we’re an easy target.”

If Bill C-355 is passed, it could open the door for similar campaigns against hogs, beef cattle and dairy heifers transported by air, he said.

“Allowing animal activism to dictate public policy is, in our opinion, a very grave mistake.”

The March 21 meeting was the bill’s third round of consideration and witness testimony under the House agriculture committee. In addition to CEEA representatives, the committee heard from Winnipeg veterinarian Dr. Jonas Watson, animal welfare auditor Jennifer Woods, Alberta veterinarian Dr. Judith Samson-French and Kenneth Serrien, managing director of Overseas Horse Services Ltd.

Proponents of the bill note it will not affect show or race horses. Those animals have been trained to tolerate air travel, advocates have said, and are distinct from animals raised for the meat market.

“Self-loading training, which helps minimize transport stress and reduces the incidence of problem behaviours and injuries, is undertaken by valuable horses used in sport,” said Watson. “The horses we send to Japan, on the other hand, have not been desensitized to transport of any kind.”

He said he has occasionally treated horses but classified his practice as largely comprising companion animals.

Opponents of the bill say equine transportation rules haven’t seen fit to separate sport and meat animals. Both face the same regulations on maximum trip lengths and other stipulations, regardless of reason for transport.

“Even though a competition horse may have had several trips later in life, there was one day that it originally got introduced to those stresses and those loud noises of 747s operating around them, the same way as our horses do,” said Wilson.

Woods noted personal experience in the matter.

“The information I provide you is based on me actually standing there, right at the trailer alongside CFIA. I actually audited CFIA as part of my audit,” she said during her testimony.

Her company, J. Woods Animal Services, specializes in animal welfare audits with a focus on transportation. She said she has followed the process right to Japan. Based on what she’s seen, standards are being met or exceeded.

“Nobody has provided any information saying that we don’t meet the standard set forth by IATA (International Air Transport Association). I have information saying we do. They require 1.73 metres squared; we give them 2.12 metres squared.”

Witnesses who oppose the bill lauded Woods’ testimony.

“She is one of the world’s most renowned animal handling specialists,” Wilson said. “She sits on some international committees where there’s only seven or eight members in the world to represent animal handling standards.”

“The bill is very emotionally based,” said Woods in an interview after the committee meeting. “I’m not here to debate whether horses should be consumed as a protein product, but I think everybody should be in agreement that if we’re going to create a regulation or ban an agricultural activity, it should actually be based on fact, not on emotion.”

On Feb. 13, the first time Bill C-355 was debated in committee, Liberal MP Ben Carr noted the law wasn’t really about whether horse shippers were meeting standards or breaking rules.

“I’m talking about the core of this issue, which is that these are sentient beings under current regulations, even if rules are not being broken, that are not in line with the values we believe we should have as Canadians,” he said.

Asked if science even matters on such an emotionally charged matter, Woods said she doesn’t think the issue resonates with Canadians as much as Carr thinks.

“Is 36,000 signatures on a petition really the voice of all Canadians? Are Canadians talking about this outside of some celebrities? Is this even on anybody’s radar? I don’t think it is,” said Woods.

Despite a national spotlight thrown on the issue by the bill, Wilson said the CEEA is optimistic about its chances.