Bill to Ban Horse Slaughter in Canada Introduced

International Fund for Horses

Bill to Ban Horse Slaughter  in Canada Introduced

OTTAWA (17 June 2010)  –   ATAMANENKO MOVES TO BAN HORSE MEAT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION OTTAWA - New Democrat Agriculture Critic, Alex  Atamanenko (BC southern Interior) tabled a Private  Members Bill (C-544) yesterday that would  effectively shut down the slaughtering of horses for  human consumption in Canada.  "The fact is that drugs which are prohibited for use  during the life of any animals destined for the human  food supply are routinely being administered to  horses," said Atamanenko. "It is irresponsible for  Canada to allow the sale of meat from horses as a  food item when they have never been raised in  accordance with the food safety practices required  for all other animals." Atamanenko points to the inexpensive, easily  available and widely used anti-inflammatory drug,  phenylbutazone (bute), as one example of what is  quite likely to be prevalent in horsemeat.  Bute is a  known carcinogen and its use is illegal in any animal that enters the food supply. "It is more likely than not that the vast majority of  horses will have been administered bute, or  'horse's aspirin' as it is commonly called," said  Atamanenko. According to Atamanenko, at least fifty per cent of  the horses being slaughtered in Canada are  imported from the US where horse slaughter has  been banned. The meat is then sold to markets in  Europe. There are no regulations in the US to  prevent horse owners from administering banned  substances because horses are not regarded or  treated as food-producing animals. Under pressure from the European Union (EU),  Canada is set to introduce a new 'equine passport'  system to track the health history and medical  treatments of horses arriving at slaughterhouses,  including those from the States.  Atamanenko believes that it will be impossible for  CFIA to verify data in these passports and expects  to see a high incidence of inaccurate records. "Many in the US believe it should be our job to verify  information from US horses since Canada is the only  one slaughtering them for human consumption,"  concluded the Atamanenko. "It's a stretch to think  that information on hundreds of thousands of unwanted  horses that were never raised to be food, will be  complete or accurate." Source: Press Release

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