Report on livestock transportation

[Frenchy]

I know it's last minute but .... at 9:00 pm on Radio-Canada (tv) in french , there will be a one hour report on livestock transportation. :sad:

[Frenchy]

omg , it just started and I'm already :sad:

[glitterless]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

omg , it just started and I'm already :sad:

Can you sum up what was said? I didn't see your post until just now.

[Chris21711]

My daughter knows someone who works for OMAFRA and inspects slaughter houses, since he has been doing it, he has become vegetarian.

Two weeks ago, a local Duck Farm (big one maybe some of you have heard of King Cole Ducks), was transporting and the Ducks were falling off the back of the transport truck.

I like Duckies, I still have a little yellow rubber Duckie in the bathroom.:

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by glitterless

Can you sum up what was said? I didn't see your post until just now.

Basicly , too many of those per trucks (they were talking mostly about pigs but the same goes for cows , horses ...) too many hours spent in the truck without food and water , up to 72 hours. Only air they get is from the whole in the van. Some of them fall and die because being step on by the others or they just can't get back up , not enough space. In a slaughter house here in Quebec , they pull teeth out of the bigger pigs (with pliers ) and break their noses with baseball bats so they won't get attacked by the pigs Animals Angels organisation filmed this (secretly) and it was shown .... I completely freaked out , I could feel my blood boil .... when they clean the trucks , dumps sh** about anywhere .... they showed some cows , one of them was sooo skinny and got beaten because she wasn't walking fast enough .... I wanted to beat up those people.

I will do some research this week end and see to who I can write ... if there's already petitions , I will post them here.

[sugarcatmom]

Here is a link to a great website (based in the States) about the whole evil factory farm issue: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/index.html
And another one about "downers": http://www.nodowners.org/

This page has tips on what people can do to help (keeping in mind the U.S focus): http://www.farmsanctuary.org/get_inv...act/tools.html

[Ford Girl]

The world is truely a horrific scarey place, while there is beauty and wonderment in life itself, there are so much horror out there.

So many causes to support, animals and humans alike...it kinda makes you feel small and insignificant. It's no wonder people turn a blind eye, I can barely stand to read this thread...

It's aweful. :sad:

[chico2]

There is a slaughterhouse here in Burlington and you often see "pig-trucks"on the highway,I get this sense of hopelessness wanting to rescue the pigs,knowing what their next destination will be,but of course I can't,instead I'll pass as fast as I can,without looking at the snouts sticking out through the holes:sad:
The proposed new Animal-Cruelty law,will also include transportation of live-stock and the horror of factory-farms and that is why it will never pass,too much $$$ involved.
Were it only about cats/dogs it would probably have passed 10yrs ago.

I was very proud after reading my regular Swedish magazine,that Minkfarmers can no longer keep Minks in cages,they must be kept as close to their natural habitat as possible.
Not that I agree with Minkfarming or any fur-driven business.
Sweden has also made great strides towards bettering the lives of live-stock

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by chico2

Sweden has also made great strides towards bettering the lives of live-stock

Chico2 , they made a lot of comparisons with Europe in the report. And we should be ashamed !!! In Europe , livestock is 24 hours in trucks , they get them out so the animals can rest for 24 hours. Here , I don't remember exactly but it was something like 36 hours in trucks , 8 hours rest (and that's if the animals are lucky )

[BMDLuver]

At the kitchener Market, for the horse auctions, the guys pull up in 8 horse stock trailers and cram 16-20 horses in them. They buy the horses by the pound, take them home, fatten them and sell them for dog food or human consumption in this province. The horses are kicking and scrambling over each other in the trailer because they are so panicked. Takes 9 hours minimum for them to get back to Quebec with the horses, no break, no water, no medical attention when they do get back. They're just for meat so why bother, right? :sad:

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

They're just for meat so why bother, right? :sad:

Yep , that's what they're thinking alright. I don't eat meat , was 97% vegetarian , so never consider myself one .... up until last night , now I'm 100%. I never had anything against people eating meat , or animals being brought up for meat consumption (although I would be more than happy if no one would like meat ) , but do it the right way. No need for any animal abuse. Also , people who like meat should complain more than vegetarians. I always been told that the animals needed to be treated in good manners for their meat to be tender. From what I saw , our meat is crappy because the animals are not only nervous , beaten etc .... but some of them are sick too !

[Shaykeija]

so sad...

[Frenchy]

omg Shaykeija :sad:

[rainbow]

I agree that this is totally wrong, sad and appalling :sad:

But, does anyone have a solution to the problem?

[glitterless]

Oh, I do, rainbow.

Transportation is one thing that CAN change. It all boils down to money. It would cost money to transport fewer animals at a time. It costs money to make pit stops to water the animals. Of course they cannot have food within so many hours of slaughter, but I think they at least need access to water.

I remember driving to the airport in Calgary one day a few years ago. I saw 2 tractor-trailer loads of horses stopped nearby. I was shocked. I'm an Ontario-born horse lover who, up until that point, was used to seeing horses in cushy stalls in nice stables. I know that there shouldn't be a double standard (I see cattle transported all the time), but that really hit home and upset me. Of course I knew what went on, but I guess I had to see it for it to really sink in.

Cattle, horses, pigs, and every other animal that is shipped to slaughter need to be transported humanely! It really can change. I am not against the slaughter of horses for human consumption. It's fine by me. I eat other animals, so I can understand that some people would want to eat horse meat. What bothers me is that I know that there is a better way.

My parents raise beef cattle. I know that there are humane ways to raise, transport, and slaughter animals. People do it right every single day. I know it's one thing when you're talking a herd of 20 or 50 and another when you're talking about feedlots of thousands of cattle...but we're going to have to suck it up, lose some money, take more time, and give these animals a more humane life and death.

[rainbow]

I agree with you but I don't understand what your solution is.

[badger]

http://www.grandin.com/

[NoahGrey]

I Agree with everyone on here. It's inhumane and disgusting. How we as humans treat animals.

Also, just wanted to tell people..that Lilydale Chicken company was charged with Animal Cruelty a few years back. They were charged with inhumane transportation and to kill them, they were just dumping live consious chickens in scolding, boiling water. Disgusting.

ACO22

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by rainbow

I agree with you but I don't understand what your solution is.

Eat less meat. And the meat you do eat should be from local, humanely raised and slaughtered sources. Farmer's Markets are a good starting point. Here's a website that you can plug your postal code into to find nearby farms and stores that provide humane and sustainable food: http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?id=Home

North American society consumes way too much meat, and everyone wants it as cheap as possible. Things aren't going to change until we start "voting" with our dollars. An interesting read in The New York Times about the effects of a "meat-guzzling" nation: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/we...27bittman.html

[glitterless]

Originally Posted by rainbow

I agree with you but I don't understand what your solution is.

Sorry, I thought I was clear. I think the solution is for livestock growers to take some responsibility, lose some money if need be, and treat their animals humanely.

Like I said, it all comes down to money. People cut corners to save dollars. I also think that maybe some more regulation is necessary. There should be a maximum number of animals per trailer load. Trailers should not be allowed on the road for 72 hours at a time. That is crazy.

It's all easier said than done, of course. There are fewer and fewer processing plants around today. Unfortunately animals must travel across the country in some cases to be slaughtered because we are closing more and more plants.

I'm sure the horses in the US are in a bad state right now because of the closures of equine slaughterhouses and the ban on horse slaughter. These animals are now travelling further distances to be killed in either Canada or Mexico. Way to go, special interest groups

I agree with SCM. Stop eating so much meat. Buy locally. Support family farms.

[Lise]

There was a short article new transportation regulations as they apply to shipping horses for slaughter.These were suggested by a group in Alberta called AFAC.Shorter transit times,mandatory feedin and watering after 24 instead of the current 36 hrs,horses must be able to stand naturally without heads touching ceiling or floor above(an end to double decker trailers for transport of horses)a definition of overcrowding,puting the onus of assuring humane transport on the owners of these horses as well as drivers,mandatory proof of competancy of drivers to transport livestock.With the end of horse slaughter in the states there has been a 41 per cent increase in transport of horses to Canada for slaughter and a 300 per cent increase to Mexico.Loopholes in American transport laws are being used to inhamanely transport into Canada,maybe if there were strcter laws that were enforced here that might at least help the ones that are coming here.As far as the US horses having more problems due to a ban on horse slaughter,they still have Canada and Mexico to use as duming grounds for poorly bred,unsound or horses that have finished their careers.Maybe if we closed our borders and banned slaughter here as well that would help.I've been riding for many years and it still amazes me how a rider can say they have this amazing bond with their horse and then abandon them to whatever fate when their usefullness is over.Every stable I rode at in England had at least four or five old eventers that were no longer rideable but still pasture sound living out a retirement with their herdmates,very few stables here do that.And it is a lot more expensive to maintain horses there than here.Anyway sorry for going on.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by rainbow

I agree with you but I don't understand what your solution is.

Originally Posted by glitterless

I also think that maybe some more regulation is necessary.

Exactly , the law needs to change. We need to complain. I have written to the people who did the report and to Animals Angels to found out where to start. I may not be able to do much , but I am not going to sit on my butt all day and eat steak either