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The Protection of Horses
 The Animal Welfare Foundation
of Canada has always supported any efforts to
extend protection to horses. The Foundation
took particular interest in a proposal to export
horses to Europe by sea to meet a growing demand
in Europe for horse meat for human consumption.
Representations were made to the Federal Government
of Canada which led to the decision by the government
to introduce very extensive and restrictive regulations
to control the conditions under which horses could
be transported in ships. As a result, this
trade did not continue because of the difficulty
of meeting these demanding regulations.
The transportation of horses by road in both North
American and Canada has been a major concern to
the Foundation. In order to obtain reliable
information on this traffic, field surveys have
been carried out which showed very clearly the
need for new legislation and increased protection.
There are a number of plants in Canada licensed
by the Federal Government to slaughter horses
for human consumption. These plants exist
in response to a demand for horse meat, both in
Canada and abroad. Because of the limited
nature of the trade here there are only a small
number of licensed plants in Canada. One
is in Alberta, one in Ontario, and one in Quebec.
The location of these plants results in horses
being transported long distances. Many horses
spend days in transit, either being collected,
taken to central points for onward shipping, or
in the final stage of transportation.
Large numbers of horses for slaughter originate
in the United States. The Foundation has
consistently petitioned the Government of Canada
to improve the inspection of horses entering Canada
through the various border crossing points.
The Foundation has always supp orted any organization
devoted to the welfare and protection of horses
and, in particular, it supported the formation
of the Canadian Horse Protection Society.
This group is an attempt to provide an umbrella
organization to sponsor, support and assist the
operations of organizations devoted to the protection
of horses in all Provinces. As a result
of this support, groups either exist or are in
the process of being formed in Newfoundland, Ontario,
Alberta and British Columbia.
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