Animal rights groups get rare authorization for private prosecution in live-horse export case (msn.com)

Animal rights groups get rare authorization for private prosecution in live-horse export case

Story by Karen Pauls

Kaitlyn Mitchell is director of legal advocacy with Animal Justice, a non-profit that wants a ban on the horse meat industry. (Travis Golby/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

In what’s believed to be a first in relation to farmed animals, a court has given animal welfare advocates the green light to privately prosecute a live-horse exporter in Manitoba.

“We have so few laws on the books to protect these horses,” said Kaitlyn Mitchell, director of legal advocacy with the non-profit group Animal Justice.

“The least that we can do is to make sure that what few laws we do have are actually enforced. Otherwise, what good are they?”

The case involves an air shipment of live horses in December 2022 from Winnipeg to Japan. The Korean Air cargo plane was supposed to stop in Anchorage, Alaska, for refueling and a crew change, but there was a blizzard, so they had to find an alternate route. 

That, combined with delays in Winnipeg, meant the shipment exceeded the 28-hour maximum time live horses can be transported without food, water and rest.

Several organizations — Animal Justice, the Winnipeg Humane Society, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition and Manitoba Animal Save — filed a complaint with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which acknowledged the breach and confirmed three horses had fallen during the transport, but said there would be no penalty.

“We urged them [CFIA] to take enforcement action, and we were incredibly disappointed when they didn’t,” Mitchell said.

“Once we realized that the CFIA was not going to take action, then we made the decision to commence this private prosecution.”

The group argued three different laws were violated and proposed three separate charges.

After a hearing in Winnipeg Tuesday, a Manitoba provincial court judge allowed a charge to be laid against Carolyle Farms — a live-horse exporter located in Swan River, Man. — under a section of Canada’s Health of Animals Regulations, which require a contingency plan to respond to unforeseen delays that could result in the suffering of an animal. 

But the Crown stayed a proposed charge under the regulations for exceeding the maximum time limit for a transport, because it said the CFIA was part of those discussions. It also stayed a proposed charge for causing distress to animals, citing jurisdictional concerns. 

“Where did these horses collapse? Was it somewhere over the ocean? We just don’t know. So that’s frustrating,” Mitchell said, adding the case is a rare example of a private prosecution — in which a private individual, rather than public authorities, is permitted by the court to lay a charge for an alleged offence. 

“I vividly recall that cold winter night one year ago,” said Manitoba Animal Save organizer Danae Tonge, who documented the 2022 shipment.

“I am relieved that the court allowed this charge to be laid and look forward to the next steps in this case.”

Farm owner defends decision

Lyle Lumax, the owner of Carolyle Farms, said Tuesday that a phone call from CBC News was the first he’d heard of the court action.

He defended the decision to carry on with the December 2022 flight, even though it would exceed the legal time limit. 

Lumax, who says he understands and loves horses, said the contingency plan is always to bring the horses back to the farm, but that 10-hour round trip puts even more strain on them.

“I can’t exactly remember, but it was something like we were three hours over the 28 hours,” he said.

“And everybody involved decided that was far less risky to the horses then putting them back on the trucks, driving back to the farm, loading them and putting them back into the plane and into the crates again.”

CBC has also asked the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for comment.

Canada is among the leading exporters of live horses, mostly Clydesdales and Percherons, bred specifically for human consumption — an industry worth tens of millions of dollars a year.

Raw horse meat sushi is considered a delicacy in Japan. The horses exported sell for up to $9,000 each, Lumax said. The horses are fattened up in Japan before being slaughtered, according to the CFIA. 

Mitchell estimates nearly 4,000 horses have been exported from Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg in the last year.

In a 2021 mandate letter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his agriculture minister to work toward ending exports of live horses for slaughter. Advocates and activists have circulated petitions and put pressure on the federal Liberals to follow through.

A private member’s bill before Parliament now would prohibits exporting live horses from Canada by air for slaughter.

Mitchell said she will testify before an agricultural committee in Ottawa on Thursday.

Regards Mark

The National Council for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (NSPCA) has called for a complete ban of livestock exports via sea following the discovery of the abhorrent condition in which animals were kept on the Al Kuwait, which docked in Cape Town last week to load feed on its way from Brazil to Iraq.

Cattle on board the Al Kuwait ship, which docked in Cape Town last week.
Photo: The National Council of SPCA

According to the NSPCA, the stench that came from the ship and raised concerns from members of the public was indicative of the awful conditions the animals, which had been on the sea for two-and-a half weeks up until then, had to endure due to a build-up of faeces and ammonia.

The NSPCA discovered diseased, injured and dead cattle among the 19 000 cattle aboard, and had to euthanise eight cows because of their poor condition. Treatment was given to the other animals to prevent further mortalities.

The NSPCA stated that the incident served as a stark reminder that the live export of animals by sea was a gruesome and outdated practice and underscored the urgent need for legislative reform and heightened global awareness to end this cruelty.

The Red Meat Producers Organisation of South Africa (RPO) clarified in a statement that the ship belonged to the international company Al Mawashi and that the current situation had nothing to do with the South African industry or Al Mawashi South Africa, which arranges and coordinates South African exports.

The NSPCA since 2019 had been in and out of court fighting for a live sheep export ban from South Africa, but it lost its case against Al Mawashi South Africa in 2021, with the exports allowed to continue subject to certain conditions.

Dr Frikkie Maré, CEO of the RPO, told Farmer’s Weekly that the RPO was concerned about the welfare of the animals on the ship, and recognised the rights of animals as noted in the Constitution of South Africa: “As primary producers, our animals are our pride. It grieves us to see animals receive poor treatment.”

Maré said that the industry was concerned about the possible influence the situation might have on the biosecurity of South Africa, with people moving on and off the ship and the possibility of dead animals being offloaded, especially because the Western Cape does not really have the capacity to handle livestock.

“As a country that is already struggling to regain its animal health status from the World Organisation for Animal Health, we cannot afford more breaches of our biosecurity.”

With the renewed call for a complete ban of live animal exports via sea, Maré pointed out that South Africa needed this alternative market to grow the industry, which in turn would contribute to rural development, poverty alleviation and job creation.

“We export both live animals and carcasses. We cannot move away from live animal exports as this is what the import markets desire, usually for religious reasons.”

He pointed out that government in collaboration with the industry had drawn up a protocol for live exports, with more than 300 inputs by industry taken up in the protocol to ensure that exports were done responsibly. Work is currently underway to turn the protocol into legislation.

Since the only livestock export harbour in South Africa is in East London, the Eastern Cape RPO has established a livestock export forum, which together with the SPCA and other institutions, ensures that exports from South Africa take place according to this protocol.

He added that live exports from South Africa by ship had a good record, with mortalities on board being lower than mortalities in domestic feedlots.

Dr Ivan Meyer, the Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, in response to the incident made submissions to the ad hoc Committee on the Powers Bill in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for the inclusion of veterinary services in the bill.

He explained that the Western Cape Powers Bill called for the Western Cape Government to gain greater control over the management of the port and trade.

If approved, the Western Cape Powers Bill will allow the Western Cape Government to intervene in similar situations and safeguard animal and public health, defend animal welfare and advance biosecurity.

In the interim, he said, the department would continue to support the relevant authorities in addressing concerns related to veterinary care, public health, and biosecurity.

Regards Mark