TORONTO, Canada: October 4th – 2010 marked a day the country of Canada came together nationwide to bring the awareness of the slaughtering of horses happening within its borders! The people were asking for support on a private members bill that was tabled by MP Alex Atamanenko of British Columbia called Bill C-544. A petition has been put out and has a deadline of December 31st, 2010 to give people time to sign and also have their own MP's support this bill. The Bill C-544 is an act to amend the Health of Animals and the Meat Inspection Act. Horses are not bred for human consumption so the horses come from retired Race Horses, Carriage Horses, Horse Riding, round up wild and just pets. Sometimes people who have horses as pets cannot afford to feed them anymore or at the least Euthanize them if they are sick so they bring them to a “Horse Rescue” and at times some non-reputable horse rescues will sell these horses to slaughter. This horse that has worked for years either pulling buggies, racing, pony rides has been brought into an insensitive world of “Meat is Money” and that is all. They end up being tightly loaded into trailers and can be transported up to 52 hours with no food or water until they reach the slaughter farm destination. Here they are removed/dragged off the trailer and await their unwarranted death sentence of serving humans for profit. The horse enters a kill box and is fully aware of what is happening by smelling the blood on the walls and ceiling from the last horse that was in the same position. Then a .22 caliber bullet is shot into its head which is suppose to render the horse unconscious however this is not the case at times and the horse sprays blood everywhere as it falls backwards and shakes, gets up and kicks while the shooter tries to hit the horse in the brain once again and at times some horses take up to 3 shots to render it unconscious. Sometimes the horses are dragged out of the stun box as they become conscious and strung up by one leg as their throat is slit and are bled out on the kill floor while they continue to convulse wildly. The Bill C-544 will amend the Health of Animals Act with the following: Section 14.1 No person shall import horses for slaughter for human consumption. Section 18.1 No Person shall export from Canada, or send or convey from one province to another, horses for slaughter for human consumption. Also Bill C-544 will amend the Meat Inspection Act with the following: Section 9.1 No person shall import or export a horse-meat product for human consumption or send or convey a horse-meat product for human consumption from one province to another. The locations that the demonstrators positioned themselves across Canada were not random but strategically done regarding either a horse slaughtering plant, a restaurant who sells horse meat, or a butcher shop that sells horse meat. There were 9 demonstrations from coast to coast across Canada and the media attention was grabbing onto everywhere. Ocean Activists United (OAU) organized the Toronto – Ontario demonstration in front of the Beer Bistro which sold Horse Burgers. The owner actually came out with a platter of Beef Burgers and was trying to hand them out free to the demonstrators. OAU showed up with about 30 people strong with signs that either showed graphic photos of horse remains or words to Support Bill C-544. The nationwide demonstration was scheduled for 12pm to 1pm however OAU Toronto decided to take the day and do more action. OAU met for an evening opening of a restaurant called La Palette for 6pm. Hearing that the owner did show up at the first demonstration he was ready with signs outside of his restaurant in the flower pots stating “Say Neigh To Speciesism”. The majority of the people out front of his establishment were vegetarians/vegans who support the life of all animals and the protection of the environment. The reason the demonstrators were pushing one animal was that a Bill has been brought forth to protect the Horses and the focus had to be for this species. The 6pm demonstration was planned however OAU decided to also take the support of 20 strong to the second La Palatte Restaurant to continue the action of getting petitions signed and awareness out to the public about where horse meat is sold and the problems that has with health and cruelty. One positive refuge for animals in Canada is the RR Horse Refuge that has helped thousands of animals not only horses. The owner of the RR Horse Refuge is Rose and she states she has about 700 animals currently under her care and she is constantly saving horses and other animals on a daily basis. Rose says her refuge is supported by donations and sponsors and without them these horses may have either been sent to slaughter. Almost all the horses that Rose rescues are sick or have been injured greatly due to the work they are forced, owners stop feeding them due to loss of jobs, or the owner themselves are highly abusive. Rose receives emergency calls 24 hours a day and will never turn down an animal in need. She has been threatened numerous times but still continues to protect the animals any way she can. Rose does adopt out to farms with a contract that the animal cannot be eaten and/or sold since the animal solely belongs to the refuge. Without an angel like Rose here in Canada thousands of animals would have met their death long ago. Please support RR Horse refuge by visiting their page and make a donation (http://www.refugerr.org). Sanctuaries like Rose's RR Horse Refuge would not be needed if we had some strong laws in place here in Canada that do not state “Animals are Property” and that they do have rights as a living being. If we can shut down the slaughtering of horses here in Canada with the support of Bill C-544 and then make the USA make a stronger support for their horses not only to keep the ban of slaughtering horses in place but also shut their exports of horses. If we do not protect horses stronger in North America the wild horses themselves will be no more. ** Bob Timmons is a Canada-based animal activist and proponent of animal rights throughout the world. BM
