Senator Pierre Dalphond and Canadian icon Jann Arden have come together to help finally ban the live export of horses for slaughter. The two animal champions collaborated by announcing a groundbreaking new Senate bill to outlaw the practice.
Bill S-270, the Horse Protection Act was introduced by Senator Dalphond on June 21, 2023, and proposes a complete ban on live horse exports from Canada.
Every year, Canada ships thousands of live horses every year to Japan, where they are violently killed in slaughterhouses and eaten raw as a delicacy. These horses are bred for the industry, raised in feedlots and exported from airports in Alberta and Manitoba.
The horses experience heartbreaking physical and mental torture. Horses are packed together in tiny wooden crates and are forced to endure long flights without access to food, water, or rest, often lasting over 24 hours. The conditions they face are stressful and dangerous, and sometimes fatal.
The federal Liberal Party committed to banning this horrific practice in their last election campaign. Following this, in December 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau to fulfill this promise and stop the cruel trade. But after all this time, no meaningful action has been taken to end it.
Earlier this year, Minister Bibeau responded to parliamentary petition e-4190, which called for an immediate ban on live horse exports for slaughter. This petition gained significant support, with over 36,000 signatures, making it one of the largest petitions of this Parliament.
Despite acknowledging the public’s overwhelming desire for a ban, horses are still being crammed into containers, transported overseas, and brutally killed at their destination. Meanwhile, on June 20, 2023, Liberal MP Tim Louis also announced that he intends to introduce a private member’s bill to outlaw the practice. But the government has still failed to introduce its own legislation, which would move more quickly through the legislative process than a private bill.
We hope the new Senate bill helps finally put an end to this horrific practice!
Banner: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
