We represent humane societies and SPCAs in every province and two territories and in very rural and very urban locations, many of which enforce animal protection laws. We are proud to share our time with our members—Winnipeg Humane Society and Montreal SPCA.
Humane Canada works collaboratively with industry to improve the standards of care for farmed animals. Farmed animals must be protected from physical and psychological suffering from birth to death.
A humane death is not only when animals are killed in such a manner that they die instantly without panic or pain or are rendered unconscious until death occurs; it is also when the handling methods, equipment and facilities used leading up to that moment are such that they reduce the levels of fear, anxiety and pain in the animals and these are kept to an absolute minimum prior to and during killing. Of course, this includes transportation to slaughter.
The methods in the process of shipping live horses via air for slaughter overseas raise many animal welfare concerns on which the committee has already received ample testimony. This means that the practice cannot meet the above-mentioned requirements for a humane death and therefore should be banned.
I want to take my brief time today to speak to the testimony that the committee has heard regarding the current standards and systems in place.
Canada's codes of practice have been referred to, even today, as some of the highest animal welfare standards. As the founder of these codes more than 40 years ago, as well as a founder of the national farm animal welfare council that required our participation in all codes, including equine, I would say more accurately that the codes are the result of years of negotiation between many different parties, all with conflicting views and interests, and that the codes often represent the minimum, not the highest, standards of care. In addition, they are not legally binding across most of the country.
With regard to transport regulations, while recent amendments do mark a vast improvement, they do not reflect the gold standard of animal welfare, nor were they developed in a vacuum, free from external pressures. We saw a 2017 ATIP request reveal that concerns from the meat industry about negative economic impacts pressured the CFIA to shift from an animal welfare science position, in which shorter transport times of between eight to 12 hours were ideal for the animals, to an economic decision of significantly increasing allowable transport times for most livestock species.
Humane Canada is not calling for a ban on horsemeat or an end to the industry in Canada. We do not support the assertion that this bill is the slippery slope that's going to try to end the meat industry, as some over-emotional arguments claim.
More than 800 million animals are slaughtered every year in Canada. We're discussing approximately 25 horses whose welfare is at risk because they are uniquely shipped by air to the other side of the world to be killed, which does not ensure that the animals' fear, anxiety and pain are kept to an absolute minimum prior to that killing.
Thank you.