The owner of Holly Hill Farm said on Facebook that each of their approximately 50 chickens and ducks were put down after they learned avian flu, also known as H5N1, was spreading through the flock.
Vancouver Island’s health authority is warning the public after an avian flu outbreak at a petting farm resulted in the euthanasia of 50 animals and possible human exposure.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been killing animals around the world, and British Columbia is a major hub for the disease. More than half of birds killed due to the virus spread over the past few years – 6 million of 11 million – have been in B.C.
The disease has also been seen in mammals, including wild mammals, marine mammals, cows, and pigs. There have been 44 reported human cases in the U.S. and one in Canada. “So far, the people who are contracting the disease have gotten it from cows or chickens.”
The spread and mutation of avian flu is accelerated by commercial poultry farms, where birds such as chickens and turkeys are often raised in crowded, stressful conditions. Earlier this year, an article by Eleanor Boyle discussed the avian flu outbreak and the need to transition away from industrial animal agriculture to address disease spread.
Ends November 8: Share your top 3 welfare concerns for chickens & turkeys
The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Chicken and Turkey Code of Practice, which serves as a guideline for on-farm care and handling of birds raised for meat, is coming up for review. The current code allows for many inhumane practices that compromise the welfare of chickens and turkeys in the poultry industry, such as overcrowding and painful procedures.
By taking the quick survey, you can help determine the top priorities for the code review and speak up for hundreds of millions of individual animals.
It has been three years since the federal government promised to ban the shipping of gentle draft horses overseas for slaughter, an industry that causes unimaginable fear and suffering to these sensitive animals.
Bill C-355, which would ban the cruel practice, got through the House of Commons but has been stalled in the Senate since May.
Recent investigations and Japanese government data show the suffering far exceeds what the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claims.
While the Senate delays action, horses continue to suffer and die as shipments continue.
Join animal protection organizations across Canada in urging the Senate to stop the deadly delay.
Take the quick action to email Canadian Senators
Use the email template below to send a message to Canadian Senators in your province, calling on them to move forward with bill C-355 without further delay.
Tip: For added impact, edit the template message below to personalize your email.
Note: Click here for individual contact info of Canadian Senators.
Most Canadians would be surprised to learn that Canada is one of the top exporters of live horses for slaughter. Every year, approximately 3,000-5,000 live draft horses are loaded onto planes, packed tightly with 3-4 horses per crate, and flown on lengthy journeys abroad where they will be slaughtered for meat.
Horses’ journeys to slaughter are long, dangerous and stressful
As sensitive prey animals with strong fight or flight instincts, horses suffer greatly on long, loud, crowded trips.
Deaths and injuries are commonplace, with a recent exposé showing that 21 horses died in 13 months, between May 2023-June 2024. A Canadian Food Inspection Agency representative had previously reported they were only aware of five deaths since 2013.
Causes of death included dehydration, serious injuries incurred during flights, and painful miscarriages.
The industry has long been opposed by organizations across Canada, including the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition and prominent animal advocates like singer-songwriter Jann Arden.
A federal parliamentary e-petition garnered more than 77,000 public signatures in support of a ban, making it one of the most popular animal-related federal petitions on record.
Horses continue to suffer due to delay of bill C-355
In December 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed the Minister of Agriculture, Marie-Claude Bibeau, to ban the live export of horses for slaughter. Three years later, horses continue to be shipped to their death as a result of delay in passing Bill C-355, which would end the practice of exporting live horses for slaughter.
Can you help protect horses from suffering through long journeys to slaughter?
The feedback period for transparent labelling on egg products is now closed. Thank you to all who spoke up for transparency for egg-laying hens!
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is looking for public feedback on proposed guidelines for how plant-based egg products can be labelled.
While the intention is to prevent false or misleading advertising of plant-based products, research shows that consumers find labelling of eggs from chickens confusing.
TAKE ACTION: Your input is needed to help advocate for fair and transparent labelling standards among all egg products in Canada. Share your feedback in a quick email before the consultation deadline of October 28th.
Terms such as free-range, free-run, cage-free and enriched colony housing have no legal definitions. These terms, along with marketing tactics such as labels with images of happy hens frolicking in the grass, are misleading when compared to the on-farm conditions and methods of production.
Tip: Share your own experience with chicken egg labelling. Have you found it confusing to understand the welfare information and method of production (caged vs. cage-free eggs) of eggs at your grocery store?
Egg product labelling should include welfare information and method of production
Research shows that a majority of Canadian consumers think about animal welfare when deciding what eggs to purchase. The majority are willing to spend more when they believe the hens’ welfare is higher.
Consumers and advocates are increasingly calling for in-store egg labelling that includes animal welfare and method of production (e.g. caged vs. cage-free) information.
Fairness in labelling for ALL egg products
Guidelines for plant-based egg labelling must be fair and not put plant-based products at a disadvantage to animal-based products. Efforts to prevent misleading advertising and improve transparency must apply to ALL egg products.
Have more time? You can learn more about the proposed guidance on plant-based egg labelling and submit your feedback via the online feedback questionnaire, which includes more questions.
Update: The online questionnaire is now closed. Thank you to all who participated.
The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Chicken and Turkey Code of Practice, which serves as a guideline for on-farm care and handling of birds raised for meat, is coming up for review for the first time since 2016.
A short public survey will help determine the top priorities for the code review.
The current code allows for many inhumane practices that compromise the welfare of chickens and turkeys in the poultry industry.
In 2023, more than 780 million chickens were raised and killed for meat in Canada, representing the vast majority of animals farmed for food nationwide.
TAKE ACTION: Take the 5-minute survey to speak up for hundreds of millions of individual animals.
Share your top welfare concerns for chickens and turkeys
Take the short survey to share your top 3 welfare concerns for chickens and turkeys raised for meat in Canada. The deadline to participate has been extended to November 8, 2024.
Lower the stocking density of birds on poultry farms and provide them with more space to move freely and exhibit natural behaviors.
Overcrowding in chicken and turkey farms in Canada presents significant welfare and health concerns for the birds. Intensive farming practices, driven by the demand for low-cost poultry, often result in large numbers of birds confined to limited spaces.
For example, the average chicken farm in Canada houses 36,000 birds.
This high-density environment can lead to increased stress, aggressive behaviours, and the spread of diseases, which may necessitate the use of antibiotics and other interventions.
Furthermore, overcrowding compromises the birds’ ability to engage in natural behaviors, such as movement and foraging. This impacts their overall well-being.
Fast-growing breeds
Prohibit fast-growing breeds, in favour of higher-welfare breeds that grow more naturally.
Breeding practices have led to fast-growing chicken and turkey breeds that amount to higher profits for producers but come at significant health and welfare costs for the birds. In 1950, it took 84 days for a chicken raised for meat to reach market weight. Today it takes 38 to 40 days.
The accelerated growth has been linked to skeletal deformities, heart problems, and reduced mobility, as these birds may struggle to support their own weight.
Barren on-farm environments
Improve on-farm conditions by requiring:
access to outdoors;
enrichment opportunities and materials, such as perches, pecking and foraging materials;
natural light and darkness; and healthy air quality and litter.
Intensive farming practices have increasingly led to chickens and turkeys being housed in barren barns, without access to natural light, outdoors, and enrichment opportunities that allow them to engage in important natural behaviours, such as perching, pecking, and foraging. They spend much of their short lives surrounded by their own waste, contributing to unhealthy conditions.
Painful procedures
Prohibit painful physical procedures, including beak and toe “trimming” and snood removal.
Common physical procedures on poultry farms, including beak and toe “trimming” and snood (fleshy area on a turkey’s beak) removal, are done to prevent feather pecking and other injuries in flocks. These invasive procedures are performed without pain control, which can lead to chronic pain and stress.
Feather pecking and other injuries are often a result of intensive farming practices, including overcrowding, barren environments and lack of enrichment opportunities that allow birds to engage in natural behaviours.
Article originally published in the Daily Hive.Written by Chantelle Archambault of the Vancouver Humane Society and Kaitlyn Mitchell, a lawyer and director of legal advocacy with Animal Justice.
Animal lovers across Canada came together this week for a day of action to call out the Senate’s delay in passing a bill to end the export of live horses from Canada for slaughter overseas.
The unified message from thousands of individuals from coast to coast to coast on October 22 was that Canadians want to see this heinous practice stop. Senators need to stop horsing around and move forward with Bill C-355, which has passed the House of Commons but has been languishing in the Senate with little progress since May.
Hope was in sight last September when Liberal MP Tim Louis introduced Bill C-355. The private member’s bill follows the federal Liberals’ campaign promise during the 2021 election to finally ban the controversial practice of shipping horses on stressful journeys to slaughter – a promise reiterated by the prime minister in his mandate letter to the Minister of Agriculture that December.
But since then, more than 6,000 horses have been loaded onto airplanes and shipped to their deaths in a horrific betrayal – betrayal of the trust of many voters who considered animal welfare a priority in their election day decision; betrayal of the gentle and sensitive animals whom many people consider to be close companions; and betrayal of the compassionate values of most Canadians. In fact, recent polling shows only 22% of Canadians are in support of the live horse export industry continuing.
Photo: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
For more than a decade, animal protection groups and the Canadian public have been raising the alarm about the long and gruelling journey horses endure when they are sent from Canadian feedlots to Japan for slaughter. These sensitive animals with strong fight-or-flight instincts are carted to airports in Edmonton and Winnipeg in the dead of night, as far from the public eye as possible. They are packed in wooden crates, typically with three or four horses in a single crate, regardless of their social compatibility. They can wait for hours on the noisy tarmac before being loaded onto planes.
Legally, horses can go up to 28 hours without food, water, or rest on these stressful overseas trips. Two new exposés by Animal Justice and Japanese animal advocacy group Life Investigation Agency (LIA) show that the suffering these horses endure is far worse than previously imagined and completely at odds with claims made by industry representatives. The industry regularly violates Canadian transport laws with impunity.
Photo: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
In the first exposé, released this past June, the groups documented how long it takes for horses to be given access to food, water, and an opportunity to rest after they land in Japan. Contrary to industry and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claims, the horses did not arrive at the quarantine feedlots until up to six and a half hours after landing. This suggests that all shipments from Winnipeg, and approximately 60% of those from Edmonton, likely go over the 28-hour legal limit. The groups’ footage also showed horses routinely sprayed with harsh disinfectant chemicals as they arrived at the quarantine facility. The horses are so dehydrated that some try to lick the painful chemicals off the nets of the transport truck.
For the first time, the same shipments of Canadian horses being sent to Japan for slaughter have been documented leaving Canada & landing overseas. Animal Justice is releasing new groundbreaking footage of these harrowing journeys, breaking the 28-hour legal time limit for travel. Take action: https://bit.ly/4bkINJn
And it’s not just transport times that have been lowballed. The group’s second exposé, released last month, revealed Government of Japan records showing that the number of horse deaths, illnesses, and injuries associated with export far exceeds what Canadian regulators have previously indicated.
Between May 2023 and June 2024 alone, at least 21 horses shipped from Canada died during transport to Japan or in the hours and days after landing. More than 50 more animals sustained injuries and illnesses. Horses exported for slaughter are dying prolonged and painful deaths caused by dehydration, severe injuries sustained by falling on the flights, and even agonizing miscarriages.
Official documents from Japan reveal that MANY Canadian horses are dying from being flown overseas for slaughter. There are far more deaths & injuries than are being reported to the Canadian government-including deaths from stress, dehydration, & miscarriages 🐴💔 Take action now to BAN this cruelty: https://bit.ly/3Zm5UAR
The truth about the horse export industry has come out, and it is an ugly truth.
Given the horrific realities faced by horses shipped for slaughter, it’s no wonder that the government’s deadly delay weighs so heavily on the hearts of Canadians. Now that Bill C-355 has passed the House of Commons, the fate of thousands of horses is in the hands of the Senate – an institution notorious for delaying private members’ bills. With the next federal election looming and partisan showmanship in the political spotlight, now is the time for Senators to heed the will of Canadians before it’s too late.
Newly released access to information documents from the Japanese government show at least 21 horses died during or in the days after being flown from Canada for slaughter in Japan between May 2023 and June 2024. That contradicts information from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
New reports obtained by animal advocacy groups in Japan reveal 21 horses died after export from Canada for slaughter – far more than reports from Canadian regulators indicate.
“Newly released access to information documents from the Japanese government show at least 21 horses died during or in the days after being flown from Canada for slaughter in Japan between May 2023 and June 2024. “
“That contradicts information from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, suggesting serious incidents are not being reported to the regulator. In February, a CFIA representative told a House of Commons committee the agency is aware of only five horse deaths related to air shipments since 2013.”
For the first time, the same shipments of Canadian horses being sent to Japan for slaughter have been documented leaving Canada & landing overseas. Animal Justice is releasing new groundbreaking footage of these harrowing journeys, breaking the 28-hour legal time limit for travel. Take action: https://bit.ly/4bkINJn
This is the second time this year that Canadian regulators have been found underreporting the severity of horse suffering during transport. In June, Animal Justice released an exposé which revealed the gruelling journeys of horses exported from Canada for slaughter regularly exceed legal limits.
For the first time, the same shipments of Canadian horses being sent to Japan for slaughter have been documented leaving Canada & landing overseas. Animal Justice is releasing new groundbreaking footage of these harrowing journeys, breaking the 28-hour legal time limit for travel. Take action: https://bit.ly/4bkINJn
The Vancouver Humane Society has signed onto an open letter to Canadian decision-makers after a new exposé reveals the horrific hidden journeys of horses exported for slaughter.
The CFIA allows horses to go a gruelling 28 hours without food, water, or rest when being transported. However, Canadian officials only track the journey until horses land on foreign soil. In reality, horses spend hours on the other side of the ocean painfully hungry, thirsty, and exhausted before reaching their destination. Time spent in transit regularly exceeds the 28 hour legal limit.
Videos also reveal horses sprayed with harsh disinfectant chemicals when they reach a quarantine facility. The horses are so dehydrated that some try to lick the painful chemicals off the nets of the transport truck.
You can read more about the investigation and open letter in the CBC.
Tell the government to take plant-forward action before October 8th
Moving toward a plant-based food system is one of the most significant changes our society can make for animal welfare and environmental protection. If every Canadian who eats animal products switched to plant-based food just one day each week, our nation would save nearly 123 million animal lives per year.
A new federal e-petition calls on the government to:
Educate Canadians on benefits of eating less meat, dairy, eggs and more plant-based foods in keeping with Canada’s Food Guide;
Require federal institutions and federally funded food programs (eg; National School Food Program) to procure more plant-based foods; and
Limit growth of industrial animal agriculture and support small-scale farmers using resilient, humane, sustainable farming practices.
Can you sign the petition before October 8th and help save millions of animals from suffering and slaughter?
The District of North Vancouver has passed another plant-forward motion!
Thanks to the support of advocates in the District of North Vancouver, a recent motion to prioritize climate-friendly, healthy and humane plant-based food purchasing successfully passed at the May 6th council meeting!
The motion, put forward by Councillor Jim Hanson, calls on the District to ensure plant-based options are included and prioritized at municipal events, meetings and other gatherings where the District purchases food.
The motion was supported by local advocates, members of the Plant-Based Cities Movement (PBCM), and VHS supporters who live in the District. The VHS and the PBCM have been working together to advocate for plant-based municipal policies and will continue to support the District of North Vancouver in the implementation of this successful motion.
This important step forward follows a previous motion in the District passed in March 2022 to grow awareness throughout the community of the health and environmental benefits of increasing the intake of plant-based foods. That motion, championed by Councillor Megan Curren, cited VHS’s report entitled “Increasing Plant-Based Purchasing at the Municipal Level”.
Watch for plant-based bus ads in Vancouver
Bus ad run by the Vancouver Humane Society in 2023
Bus ad run by the Vancouver Humane Society in 2023
Vancouver residents will soon be able to see new messages from the Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform on buses across the city.
The ads will encourage people to eat more plants by highlighting the heart health benefits of a plant-forward diet.
If every person in Vancouver swapped just one day a week of animal-based foods for plant-based, they could save more than 37 million animals every year!
Find more reasons to eat more plants, recipes, tips, and a map of plant-based businesses on the VHS’s plant-based resource website, Plant University.
Legislation ending exports of livestock for slaughter and fattening receives Royal Assent
Congratulations to animal allies across the pond! After years of advocacy, a law was passed in the UK banning the live export of farmed animals like cows, pigs, sheep, horses, and goats for slaughter and fattening abroad.
Farmed animals suffer greatly on long transport journeys, enduring long periods of time without food, water, or rest. They are packed together in overcrowded conditions and can face extreme temperatures, leading to injuries, illness, and deaths.
The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act in the UK was met with cross party support and passed into law on May 20 when it received Royal Assent. This new legislation marks enormous progress for the well-being of farmed animals.
Here in Canada, a similar bill to ban the live export of horses for slaughter is currently in Senate after being passed at the House of Commons.
