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daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (elsiedee@MIT.EDU)
Sun Nov 27 18:27:36 1994
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Subj: Animal transport in Canadian meat industry
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eye WEEKLY November 24 1994
Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
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NEWS & VIEWS NEWS & VIEWS
MAYBE K.D. LANG WAS RIGHT
The sickening truth behind the meat and poultry we eat
by
ALEXANDRA HIGHCREST
One trucker says, "What are they going to do? Charge me?
They never see this shit unless some big mouth opens
their yap. I'd take care of a big yap like that."
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association is meeting this weekend to
discuss the transport of food animals. A representative says, "The
association is review(ing) our position on the issue," she said. She
did not acknowledge the existence of a problem but the vets, like
federal officials, must know something is terribly wrong.
Doing some background research into this issue, I discovered blatant
cruelty in Canada's meat and poultry industry, enough to make me sick
- -- and angry. More than 447 million food animals are transported to
abattoirs -- slaughterhouses -- in Canada every year. This flow of
livestock feeds a Canadian industry that slaughters 3,500 food animals
every minute of every working day.
Last year, 2,738,109 animals arrived dead or dying at federally
inspected slaughterhouses. Thousands more arrived at provincially
regulated plants, which are not federally inspected.
According to the Canadians for Ethical Treatment of Food Animals
(CETFA) -- whose membership includes Dan Aykroyd, Liona Boyd, Anton
Kuerti and Ann Mortifee -- the treatment of livestock in transit is
appalling. CETFA and a handful of truckers who have dared to speak out
about the industry say the federal government knows this, but is doing
nothing.
A trucker, speaking to CETFA, said, "I've been witness to a few
despicable acts of cruelty inflicted on crippled pigs as they are
loaded onto trucks, such as electric prods applied to outer rectums,
shocking the head area, to a broom handle being inserted into the
rectum to push the crippled pig onto the trailer. Most pigs, even
crippled, will do anything to get away from the cattle prod or
something shoved in their rectum. I've even seen pigs' eyes zapped
(with cattle prods) when guys lose it."
In order to increase profitability, trailers are overloaded and animals
don't get enough food, water or rest while in transit. The way animals
are unloaded at destinations can be horrific. CETFA believes the feds
are aiding and abetting these deplorable conditions.
In April, 1987, thanks to budgetary cutbacks, the federal government
virtually eliminated the examination of food animals in transit within
Canada's borders. Since then the number of DOA's arriving at
slaughterhouses has been on the rise, with 1990 being a peak year --
3,090,869 dead or dying animals was the tally.
Currently there are two sets of rules and regulations that apply to the
transportation of food animals: the Health of Animals Act and the
Voluntary Codes of Practice. CETFA says that the reliance on the codes
has become the accepted practice but compliance has never been
seriously monitored. CETFA informants in the trucking industry say they
have never seen copies of the codes. The guidelines are invisible.
Dr. Gordon Doonen of Agriculture Canada insists that the Health of
Animals Act, which lays down the law regarding trailer densities,
travelling conditions and off-loading procedures, is being enforced.
"Our inspectors are working steadily," Doonen said.
Truckers hauling livestock see things differently. "Government? The
government doesn't give a shit," says one trucker who didn't want his
name used. "What are they going to do? Charge me? They never see this
shit unless some big mouth opens their yap. I'd take care of a big yap
like that."
Tina Harrison, co-ordinator of CETFA, spoke on the line from her home
in B.C. "There is so much secrecy surrounding the Canadian meat
industry. Pictures that we have can't be used. The identities of the
truckers who speak to us have to be protected. The meat industry is a
rough, tough business -- and a business that polices itself."
Harrison says Canadians aren't aware of just how bad things are. She
argues that Agriculture Canada's funding has been so drastically
reduced that it no longer has the resources to properly monitor the
meat industry. CETFA also believes the government is unwilling to step
in. "In neither the codes nor the existing paper laws _ is there any
provision for enforcement, never mind swift application of penalty. In
30 years, there has not been a single prosecution for inhumane
treatment in a slaughterhouse."
There are roughly 100 slaughterhouses operating in Ontario that do not
receive regular federal inspections. One such meat packer has signed a
contract with the Japanese. The customer wants 10,000 pigs shipped from
Western Canada to Ontario for slaughter every week. This particular
abattoir can slaughter 700 pigs per hour, when working at full
capacity. The meat will be frozen, then air-freighted to Japan.
According to CETFA and their informants, all of this will occur without
any independent monitoring.
Doonen says people are being charged under the Health of Animals Act,
but he couldn't give me statistics on just how many. Whether the feds
admit it or not, Agriculture Canada must know there's a problem. Doonen
said the government will be reviewing the industry and will be meeting
with inspectors, industry people and animal welfare activists to
discuss the treatment of livestock in transit. AgCan will also begin
collecting statistics on the prosecution of individuals and firms
accused of cruelty. This is long overdue, and should be seen as only a
beginning.
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