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Martin Boissonneault
Sainte-Julie, Quebec, Canada J3G 6V7, Canada
Recent Activity
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Martin signed the petition | -
Martin signed the petition | -
Martin signed the petition | -
Martin commented on the article |The right answer is to remove the cattle the BLM allows on the lands wild horses use. Cattle usually outnumber horses more than 20-to-1, sometimes 100-to-1.
The "overpopulation" is caused exclusively by cattle and cattle related operations like fencing off water holes. That's to create the excuse that there is not enough water for horses.
Or split the horses land in HMAs, horse management areas, and wilfully ignoring the fact that horses can and do go in many HMAs in a day. Their excuse is then that there are too many horses in one HMA and there is not enough food there.
Horses graze in altitude in the summer where it's cooler and with more grasses, and down in the winter for the relative warmth and food. So, to "gather" them in the summer, they count them in the HMA where they are in the winter, where they all are, and then say the next summer after that there is not enough food and water there.
The horses are in altitude by then, where there is enough food and water! But since they where counted in the winter HMA, and there is no food there in the summer, "there is not enough food for them, so they will starve if we don't 'save' them". The BLM then "saves" those "poor, starving" horses.
They, of course, never mention... Oh, sorry, they DO mention in their reports that "the gathered horses are healty".
Welcome to BLM Logic (or lack of!)
You are right, humans overpopulate more than most animals.
And where there is overpopulation, it's usualy because humans played God and messed up the delicate balance Nature created. Like killing natural horse predators so cattle can graze peacefully.
Something Nature can fix on her own in a couple of years, if humans stop interfering... Interrestingly, in some places like in the Arrowheads, Montana, the wild horse population did NOT increase, due to the natural predation. The BLM "gathered" anyway...
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Martin commented on the article |
Part Two, last:
I cannot speak for all the other animals, I don't know about the conditions of all of them. Some I know better than others.
As for the seal pup hunting, please read this. http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/myth-eng.htm
By the way, I should mention that my family did work for those agencies before they retired. My father was an inspector for both agencies, first for Fisheries and Oceans Canada as an inspector, then for the CFIA seafood inspection when the inspection got transferred to them. They worked there for over 20 years.
I cannot speak for the whole Canada, but the fisheries related portions of those government bodies, or in the case of CFIA, an independent entity with sole client the Canadian government, in Quebec, I trust completely.
For the seal pup hunting, they listened to critics, and investigated the impact of the hunting as well as how it was done. They did confirm that the pup's skull was indeed very thin, and properly used, the hakapik did instantly destroy the brain. Just to be sure, they added extra steps that where not done before to ensure the pup was indeed dead before getting on the boats. Yes, they are pups. White fur. Red blood. Looks violent, and useless.
Let's not forget that in the wild, all sorts of animals are being hunted. Not by man, but by other animals. Horses are hunted by cougars, and their killing is far from humane. Do I like it! Hell no! But nature is an opportunistic place, and the weak usually dies. This has happened for millions of years.
Humans consider themselves "evolved", and to appease our conscience, we develop gentler methods. But you're very right for two things: Killing, by any name, is often needlessly violent and traumatizing, and causing needless suffering is and always will be wrong. -
Martin commented on the article |
Again, in two parts: Part One:
I understand and agree with most of your conclusions.
I never intended to say Canada was an example. Hell, Quebec province is likely the world's #1 in puppy mills. But the legal system is functional, and does work when cases get there.
There are and likely always will be bad players, eager to save a couple bucks and do wrong to save them. And when the government inspectors paid to enforce those rules stop caring, bad stuff will happen. That can and likely does happen in every country who has laws against cruelty.
At least there is a legal framework intended to deal with those occurrences and penalize the guilty. And plants do get closed for non-compliance or cruelty.
Natural Valley Farms, Neudorf, Saskatchewan has closed. It used to slaughter horses. Hidden camera videos shot inside and exterior surveillance by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition did get that plant closed. The CBC did a piece on this plant:
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/story/2009/10/01/national-horses-061008.html
And now, Bouvry Exports in Fort Macleod, Alberta, and Viande Richelieu in Massueville, Quebec (both companies are linked, google for their web site) are under investigation by the CFIA. More here: http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/ChambersofCarnage.html
This info was also reported to members of Equine Canada, our national horse association.
Followed in Part Two
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Martin signed the petition | -
Martin commented on the article |All right, traceability should be used, equally by everyone. Each pig, each cow, and so on for everybody.
Food safety is a good thing, unless the US plans to close it's food borders, where they will get stuck with 2+ times too much food. A reduction in meat production might not be all bad, but besides the point here.
I understand the problem with animals who have a short lifespan commercially, where the ID becomes a recurrent fee, but the problem does NOT apply to pet animals that are kept and not raised for meat, right?
If I have a horse, and I ID it, I pay once for the ID, maybe to register the transportation to/from where I would compete, and that it! But that horse stays IDed for what, 20+ years?
Balanced with the health benefits, if all those stallions infected with Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) had permanent ID, as well as their partners mares and foals, the disease would have been tracked very quickly, and only some horses would have had border crossing problems! A couple clicks and the whole possibly affected lineage would be known, and investigated.
Following the recent episode of Mad cow Disease in Canada, a lot of effort was placed on traceability. A lot of it was brought forward by private companies who wanted to protect their products from a possible ban on exports. If they can prove their products where not contaminated, it's much easier to cross the international borders.
The recent Maple Leaf recall could be used as an example. The list of recalled products had never been that long before, but since traceability starts to make sence, and the tools get more accessible, it gets more and more used. So, more and more businesses know what goes where and when. That crisis was not perfectly managed, true. But it could have been much worse.
I prefer to know my sandwich has no tainted meat than hoping for the best because my grocer who made that sandwich does not remember what brand of meat he used that day...
I also prefer to know my mare has not been in contact with any horse who was found to have CEM. ID would tell me that.
ID makes tracing faster, and more accurate. It saves money too, because the records would show she was not in contact with any of those stallions by ID. No vet check would be needed... -
Martin commented on the article |
The current laws are being easily circumvented, at least for some more time anyway.
Officially, horses crossing the Canadian frontier for human consumption should be inspected at the border. So, they are not shipped "for human consumption" but "to feedlots". That way, they can pass without inspection. Don't get me wrong, the slaughterhouse IS the only destination in Canada for them!
"Effective July 31, 2010, it will be mandatory for all Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspected facilities in Canada engaged in the slaughter of equine for edible purposes to have complete records for all animals (domestic and imported) presented for slaughter. These records will include unique identification for each animal, a record of illness and a record of medical treatments administered to the animal for the six-month period preceding slaughter."
Hopefully, that will help. Only time will tell...
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Martin commented on the article |
Current horses should NOT be used for human consumption.
Medical history tracing is difficult at best, and there are around 12% of them having received "banned for human consumption" drugs, which are banned for life. Tracing those drugs is difficult in the meat, and many horses are sick to begin with...
Of course, feel free to eat some unknown horse meat, but be aware your health may suffer from it. Cancer is one direct risk involved...
I know I will NEVER eat meat from a horse I don't personally know, know his owner AND the way he died.
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Caring for my horse for the last 6.5 years (She just turned 7) showed me the true beauty of these great creatures.
I thank Ginger Kathrens for her Cloud series (Nature, PBS), which helped me understand the mind of my then little 6mo filly, and also helped me understand her complex psychological needs as well as horses social behaviors. I stumbled on Ms. Kathrens documentary in the middle of the night when I had just started my adventure with my horse, and it opened her world to me.
They resemble us in more ways we care to admit. And if we show them we really care about them, they will give their heart out to please us. I'm truly touched by the generosity my horse showed me again and again. And I know she trusts me with her life.
I'll defend her with my life if I need to, anything else would feel like treason to her.
Slaughter just isn't an efficient use of their body. It's barely a way to escape responsability for breeders who over produce, hoping for one champion... The racing industry will collapse, it's just a matter of time. Times have changed, entertainment has evolved, education progressed. Accept it and downsize by stopping needless breeding.
The true horse lover would never let his horse go away, unless he is absolutely sure his horse will be cared for as well or better than he himself can, and his horse will be happy. But laws should be there for the times it does not happen that way.
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