Alberta horse slaughterhouse probed by RCMP

Hidden camera video also prompts food inspection agency investigation


Last Updated: Saturday, April 24, 2010
6:58 PM MT Comments75Recommend50By John Gibson, CBC News

An image from video footage shows a top view of a worker at Bouvry Horse Exports shooting a horse. (Canadian Horse Defence Coalition)

A slaughterhouse in Fort Macleod, Alta., owned by a Calgary company is under investigation by the RCMP over allegations that it has been killing horses inhumanely at its facility.

Police opened the file after the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition made a complaint against Bouvry Horse Exports Ltd, which sells horse meat to international markets.

The animal rights group says a secretly recorded video was sent to them showing horses at the Fort Macleod slaughterhouse being shot and then hoisted away by their legs while still fully conscious.

"It's currently under investigation. We're speaking with the SPCA as well," said Sgt. Brent Hawker, with the RCMP detachment in Fort Macleod.

"If there's a criminal offence that's been committed, we'll lay charges."

'I feel that the footage from the Bouvry plant shows levels of suffering that are unacceptable.'

—Dr. Mary Richardson, veterinarianClaude Bouvry, one of the owners of the plant, denied the allegations of inappropriate slaughtering on Thursday.

"We are supervised at all times, and the SPCA can visit at anytime," he told CBC News in an interview.

Bouvry said six CFIA officials and a veterinarian are always present during the slaughtering process at his facility.

According to the group that made the allegations, workers can be seen in the video repeatedly failing to kill horses with one rifle shot, and then leaving the animals in pain for a prolonged period.

"I feel that the footage from the Bouvry plant shows levels of suffering that are unacceptable," said Dr. Mary Richardson, a veterinarian with the coalition.

Another expert associated with the horse protection group said it appeared many horses were still showing voluntary movements and clearly breathing when they were suspended.

"This indicates these horses were likely conscious as they were being hoisted high into the air with one leg bearing their entire weight, and while their necks were cut down to the carotid arteries on both sides," said veterinarian Dr. Debi Zimmermann.

A horse at Viande Richelieu in Massueville, Que. (Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Food Animals)

The coalition also complained to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which oversees the operations of slaughterhouses, alleging that the company has violated meat inspection laws.

The agency confirmed Thursday it has been investigating the company's killing practices at its Alberta plant, and another it owns in Massueville, Que., Viande Richelieu.

"The agency is validating and investigating the allegations presented in the video and actions will be taken to ensure vigilance and respect with regards to appropriate duty of care and humane treatment of animals," said CFIA media relations officer Guy Gravelle.

"The CFIA takes allegations of abuse very seriously and investigates all reports of abuse."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/04/22/calgary-horse-bouvry-slaughterhouse-rcmp-cruelty-inhumane.html#ixzz0m53xsqKD

CHDC Receives Proof that Alberta and Quebec fail to meet Humane Slaughter Standards

(courtesy of Canadian HOrse Defence Coalition)

In late February 2010, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) received hidden camera footage of horse slaughter practices at Viande Richelieu in Quebec and Bouvry Exports in Alberta - the latter known as the largest exporter of horsemeat in North America. The CHDC has compelling proof that puts into question the effectiveness of the assembly-line slaughter of horses. The evidence demonstrates that both the facilities in Alberta and Quebec fail to meet humane slaughter standards used by the CFIA to audit Canadian slaughterhouses.


To view compilations of the footage obtained, please click the link below.
WARNING: Content is very graphic and could be disturbing to some viewers. http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/ChambersofCarnage.html

Dear President Obama, What Would Lincoln Do?

Dear President Obama,


What would Lincoln do?

No matter the politics of Horse Slaughter in America , there’s one thing that both sides cannot deny, our horses are suffering daily.



Mr. President, if you admired President Lincoln, then you surely must have known about his deep compassion for animals.

Illinois politician William Pitt Kellogg recalled: “Next to his political sagacity, his broad humanitarianism was one of his most striking characteristics.

Historian Charles B. Strozier noted that “ Lincoln ’s lifelong sympathy for animals...was hardly the norm for the frontier.” [1]

Abe Lincoln loved children and animals and often preached against cruelty to animals.

Did you know that when the white House stables caught fire in 1863, President Lincoln had to be restrained from entering the burning structure to rescue six trapped horses?

Mr. President, even you wrote about Lincoln ’s self-awareness and his humility in one of your books. Surely, Mr. President, you must have known about his compassion for animals.

If you admired President Lincoln, you must have known that pardoning the Turkey each Thanksgiving is part of Lincoln’s legacy?


Mr. President, even the theme of your Inauguration was taken from a line in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
“A New Birth of Freedom”

Please Mr. President, please end the suffering of our American horses and give them their freedom and the respectable quality of life they deserve.

President Lincoln once said, "I am not bound to win, but I'm bound to be true. I'm not bound to succeed, but I'm bound to live up to what light I have."

Be true Mr. President… What would Lincoln do?

Americans’ Against Horse Slaughter
AmericansAgainstHorseSlaughter.com

[1] http://www.myhero.com/myhero/go/specialevents/hero.asp?hero=LBC_PetsChildren&eid=1

The HSUS Urges Congress to Ban Export of U.S. Horses to Slaughter

Canadian undercover video shows horses conscious as they are shot multiple times

New undercover video footage released Tuesday by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition confirms the horrible abuses inherent in the slaughter of our horses for human consumption, and illustrates the need for the U.S. Congress to bar the export of tens of thousands of U.S. horses each year to slaughter plants across the border. At the Bouvry Exports plant in Canada, a chestnut horse is shot three times while a gray mare waits in the kill box. As the chestnut horse panics and struggles—as horses are biologically wired to do—the gray mare is shot. She remains alive and kicking even as two more .22-caliber shots are fired at her face. She languishes. The pattern repeats itself.

The CHDC's video footage, titled "Chamber of Carnage," further demonstrates what The Humane Society of the United States has documented for years about horse slaughter: Foreign-owned horse slaughterhouses have set up shop just over the border, and U.S. horses will continue to suffer both during long-distance shipping and then during a gruesome butchering process—all for the culinary whims of foreign gourmands.


To see the "Chamber of Carnage" video, click here. Some horses in the CHDC footage bear tags from the United States Department of Agriculture, indicating animals shown in the video originated in the United States.

"Every day while Congress delays, 'killer buyers' are transporting American horses to Canada and Mexico, and there the animals are meeting an awful demise, often after a painful and harrowing journey," said Wayne Pacelle, The HSUS' president and CEO. "This new investigation affirms again that there is unmistakable cruelty in this industry and it will only end when the Congress passes the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act."


The footage is consistent with similar footage obtained by The HSUS of horses cruelly butchered in foreign-owned plants on U.S. soil as well as that of horse slaughter in Mexico. One theme runs through every investigation – U.S. horses are generally not raised for food and where this trade occurs, there is inherent abuse.

Horse slaughter is not a form of humane euthanasia – something The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's video clearly shows. Horses are trusting, majestic creatures, and extreme flight animals. They fight or try to flee, and they suffer in these slaughter houses. Approximately 100,000 U.S. horses are purchased by "kill buyers" at auctions across the United States, who frequently outbid good horse owners to secure the fattest, healthiest horses, and are then transported cross-country often with no food, water or rest to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico, where they are butchered. Despite Canada's regulations and inspection standards for plants that process horses, this investigation shows how ineffective they are at preventing suffering.

Nicholas H. Dodman, D.V.M., one of the world's most noted and celebrated veterinary behaviorists, a founding member of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine professor, reviewed the videos for The HSUS and echoed the same sentiment: "Noise, blood and suffering is what you get at the Bouvry equine slaughter plant: Horses kicking after they have been shot, sinking down and rising up; sometimes periods of struggling or paddling before a second or third shot has to be administered. This atrocity goes against all veterinary guidelines for humane euthanasia. Terror and suffering is the rule at this equine house of horrors ... and all in the name of the gourmet meat market."

The HSUS joins CHDC and hundreds of other horse industry and animal welfare groups in calling for the immediate passage of H.R. 503/S. 727 to prevent our horses from the cruelty of horse slaughter for human consumption. This legislation, authored by Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and John Ensign, R-Nev., has 181 House cosponsors and 29 Senate cosponsors.

-30-

ANOTHER FRONT FOR HORSE SLAUGHTER

(Courtesy of Animal Law Coalition)

Another "Front" for Horse SlaughterPosted Mar 16, 2010 by laura allen

Horse SlaughterPro-slaughter interests have once again used a state legislature to advance their agenda to return horse slaughter to the U.S.


They have pushed through the Wyoming legislature a new law, H.B. 122, introduced by Wy. State Rep. Sue Wallis who is also the self-styled Executive Director of the United Organizations of the Horse, which is said to unite The United Horsemen's Front, The United Horsemen's Alliance, and The United Horsemen's Political & Legal Action Fund. "Front" is probably the most appropo name for this collection of horse slaughter supporters. Front for pro-horse slaughter interests.

For the entire article, click here!

SAY NO TO FEDERAL FUNDING FOR WILD HORSE SALAZOOS!

February 28, 2010


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:

Laura Allen
Animal Law Coalition and Equine Welfare Alliance, general counsel
607.220.8938
lauraallen@animallawcoalition.com

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Say No to Federal Funding for Wild Horse Salazoos!

CHICAGO, (EWA) - The funding testimony for the planned sanctuaries dubbed by wild horse supporters as "Salazoos" outlined last October by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, will be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Energy and Natural resources on March 3, at 10am.

The outcome of the testimony will decide if our wild horses belong on their western public lands or in "zoos" in the East and Midwest and whether the BLM will commit millions upon millions of future dollars to warehouse wild horses and burros that would otherwise live without cost to the taxpayers in their natural habitat where they have lived for centuries.


The requested funding would increase the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) budget by $42M to purchase one of the seven planned "Salazoos." The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and its over 100 member organizations, Animal Law Coalition, The Cloud Foundation and numerous Mustang advocate and welfare organizations are vehemently opposed to increased funding for the BLM for this incredible financial sinkhole.

America already has a management program in place for our wild equines. It's called the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. It was inspired by a heroic Nevada woman, Velma Johnston, who as "Wild Horse Annie" gave these horses a sanctuary BLM has been trying to destroy ever since it was passed.

A management program for wild horses and burros on public land has yet to be proposed by the BLM or DOI that is compatible with current law. Their answer is to remove wild horses from the land, permit grazing by millions of cattle at below market rates and move our horses to a zoo like setting far from their home. In fact, the BLM was given appropriations to care for the wild horses in holding pens but has appeared to use the funding to round-up more horses. When citizens complained, they were denied access as armed guards prevented them from even viewing horses in captivity.

With no viable management plan in place, it is a disgrace and waste of critical tax payer dollars to increase funding to yet another mismanaged program. The 1971 law calls for wild horses and burros to be managed on their public lands - not in holding pens and not in zoos.

The BLM spent approximately $2M gathering a mere 2,000 animals at its Calico wildlife management area, a cost of $1,000 per horse. Once in holding, the animals will each cost the government approximately $500 per year to warehouse. Worse, the government charges ranchers only about 20 cents of every dollar that program costs taxpayers. "The Salazoo plan is yet another raid on the public funds by special interests", says EWA's John Holland.

BLM has spent more than $2 million in 2009 on a firm that stampedes wild horses with a roaring helicopter. At the Calico Nevada round-up, more than 98 have died as a result, including unborn foals and two babies who lost their hooves after a multi-mile run of terror.

The wild horses and burros represent a mere .05% of animals grazing on public lands. When the 1971 law was passed, wild horses were present on 54 million acres. Since then, over 200,000 horses have been removed along with 22 million acres of public land. Many herds have been zeroed out leaving public land available to return wild horses to their land. Congress should replace the lost acres with good grazing land for the animals BLM wants to place in its Salazoos.

The livestock grazing on public lands alone outnumber the wild horses and burros by over 200 to 1 and are subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Neither the BLM nor DOI has yet to explain how millions of privately owned livestock are sustainable or how neither agency can find room on the 262 million acres of public land it manages for less than 50,000 wild horses and burros. Neither has explained why the wild horses and burros are being blamed and removed for range degradation when the government GAO studies reflect the livestock are ruining the ranges.

The EWA and ALC call on Congress to deny additional funding and specifically defund wild horse and burro round-ups until the DOI and BLM can provide independent current range population counts, current range assessments and a viable management plan that upholds the 1971 law.

Both Sen. Mary Landrieu and Sen. Barbara Boxer have posed serious questions to the BLM on its management practices. Those questions should be answered immediately with facts, not spin.

Additional details on defunding the BLM for "Salazoos" can be found at Animal Law Coalition, article number 1188.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/

BUTE IS BANNED FOR FOOD ANIMALS, OUR HORSES ARE NOT FOOD ANIMALS

 

 

 

 

KEEPING BUTE OUT OF THE FOOD CHAIN

(courtesy Alex Brown and Paulick Report)

Alex Brown is among those in the anti-horse slaughter community who pointed out to the Paulick Report recent changes in Canadian regulations regarding drugs not permitted in horses intended for slaughter in Canada. In this following article, Brown says an extremely high percentage of American-trained Thoroughbreds are prescribed one of the newly prohibited drugs, phenylbutazone, otherwise known as Butazolidin or Bute. What isn’t known is how this new ban will affect the transportation and slaughter of horses from the United States into Canada. – Ray Paulick

---

By Alex Brown
Bute is banned for food animals, our horses are not food animals.

The United States Food and Drug Administration released a document in 2003 establishing that phenylbutazone (Butazolidin, or Bute) is not fit for horses intended for the food chain.  According to the document, Bute is a carcinogen, as determined by the National Toxicology Program.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently released a document establishing revised guidelines or horses intended to be slaughtered in slaughter houses in Canada.  In that document there is a list of substances that are not permitted for horses intended for the human foodchain, regardless of when the substance is ingested.  No quarantine period for these substances.  They are simply banned.  Bute is on that list.

Data compiled by the Daily Racing Form indicates that in 2009 99% of horses that ran in California pre-raced on Bute (7391 out of 7443).  In a similar study of Suffolk Downs runners, 92% of horses pre-raced on Bute (1062 out of 1158).  As I ask trainers about their use of Bute for pre-racing, trainers tell me they pre-race on Bute regardless of the condition of the horse.  It is not because the horse is unsound, it is because we can and it does not slow the horse down for the race itself.

As horsemen we know that pre-racing on Bute is only one example of when Bute is administered to our racehorses.  Many horses train on Bute as part of their daily regimen. 

Is it not time now to ask our racing leaders to publicly support an end to slaughter, or at least ban racehorses from the food chain.  It is clear that racehorses are not fit for human consumption from a food safety standpoint and knowingly allowing this practice to continue cannot be justified.  
We should perhaps also ask the same question of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). A vet, more than anyone, knows that our racehorses are administered Bute, and they now must undersrtand that Bute is prohibited for food animals.