Call to improve animal protection

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This article was published 10/03/2019 (2404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New amendments to federal animal transportation regulations will still leave too many animals suffering in the cold, advocates say, and now they hope Manitobans will join their call to strengthen Canada’s animal welfare protections.

On Saturday afternoon, about 20 animal rights advocates braved a chilly wind to protest on the steps of the legislature, calling on the feds to do more to protect animals in transport. The action was organized by Manitoba Animal Save, a two-year-old local chapter of a worldwide advocacy movement.

The Winnipeg protest comes a week after a similar event in Toronto, and a month after the Manitoba group met on the legislature steps in advance of the new amendments.

At the core of advocates’ concerns are amendments to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s animal transport regulations, which were released on Feb. 20. The amendments, the first since transportation requirements were introduced in 1977, are expected to go into force in February 2020.

“(CFIA) regulations don’t mean anything. They haven’t really changed at all,” co-organizer Cheryl Sobie said, after speaking to the crowd. “In fact, I think it might have made things worse for animals, because now they’re allowed to be transported longer if they’re given some food, or some water, or some rest.”

In a release, Ottawa touted the amendments as “the product of extensive consultations” with various interested groups, and the subject of an “unprecedented” public response, including 51,000 comments from over 11,000 individuals, including stakeholders and animal welfare groups.

The amendments decrease the amount of time many types of animals are allowed to be transported without access to food and water. For instance, adult cows will now be allowed to be transported for a maximum of 36 hours without food or water, down from the current 48 to 52.

After that maximum transport time is reached, the amendments call for animals to receive at least an eight-hour rest period with food and water and other humane measures. That’s up from five hours under the current regulations.

Those changes don’t go far enough to mitigate suffering, advocates said. They pointed to the fact that other countries have stricter regulations. The United States has a maximum transport time of 28 hours; the European Union sets the maximum at eight hours. In New Zealand, adult cattle must be given water every 12 hours, and food every 24.

Advocates had hoped to see similar regulations implemented in Canada, as well as increased enforcement to ensure animal welfare. But when the amendments were formally published on Feb. 20, they were dismayed to see that the CFIA had made only incremental changes.

“They’ve caved to industry pressure. They won’t take a stand,” Sobie said. “I don’t know what they’re afraid of, whether it’s losing votes, or losing revenue for Canada. But it’s really unfortunate, because they’re letting industry do whatever they want, and animals are suffering and dying every day.”

Meanwhile, current CFIA rules state that animals should not be loaded, confined or transported if they are likely to suffer due to “meterological or environmental conditions.” But there is no specific provision regulating transportation in extreme weather, such as the vicious cold snap that swept Manitoba this winter.

Members of prairie Animal Save chapters recently observed pigs being transported at temperatures below -30 C.

“You can’t do that to a dog and cat, you’d be in jail if you do that, it’s animal cruelty,” said Harikesh Marwaha, who spoke at Saturday’s event. “I asked government (officials), what is the difference between a pig, and a cow, and a dog, and a cat, and a human? They bleed, they have a brain. They eat. They feel happiness.”

Now, Marwaha hopes that other Manitobans will join him in writing to their elected officials, to encourage stronger animal welfare laws. With provincial and federal elections on the horizon in 2019, he says, now is the right time for concerned Canadians to raise their voices on animal welfare issues.

“It’s not only happening in Winnipeg, it’s happening in all the provinces,” Marwaha said. “If everybody will keep up the pressure, government will hopefully listen. We’ve got to put more pressure right now… We have to speak for the voiceless, because animals can’t speak for themselves.”

 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca