Yes, it is.
I think we should listen to the experts and the people who are there, like the government, which oversees enforcement, and people like me, who work in welfare. I'm there. I'm right up front. I'm standing there. I'm not from afar; I'm in there with the animals. I've been to Japan. I've been to the feedlots. I have been to the slaughter plants.
If anybody knows anything about Japanese culture, they'll know they're very finicky. We know that the Japanese, as a country we export to, have very high standards. I do not have concerns about the care of the animals there at all.
I think we need to look more at the research, at the science and at the facts.
It's continually said that the animals are cramped, yet nobody has ever given us a square footage. You're saying they're cramped, but what does cramped even mean?
A regulation or a bill is being based on the comment about being cramped, when our animals actually exceed the required space. With the requirements of IATA, the Health of Animals Act, research done by Dr. Terry Whiting here in Canada, the code of practice for Canada and EC No 1/2005 for adult horses, we give them more room.
You also don't want to give them too much room. The last thing you ever want to have your horse do during transport is lie down. No standard says an animal should have the ability to lie down and rest. Horses actually don't want to lie down.
That's what we need to be listening to. That's the science.