No More Quebec Bashing: Evolution

via Chamie Andorette, le Refuge Galahad :

A voir ce soir à TVA, la face cachée de la viande ! Le but du documentaire n’est pas de faire la morale aux Québécois en disant qu’ils consomment trop de viande, par exemple, a expliqué Sophie Durocher. L’objectif est de présenter la réali
té telle qu’elle est et de montrer comment ça se passe au Québec, comment les animaux sont élevés et abattus, illustrer l’impact sur l’environnement, et donner la parole à des médecins qui ont consulté de nombreuses études et à des gens qui ont fait le choix d’être végétariens et qui s’en portent très bien. »
 That’s Dec 9, 2012, channel 115, TVA-M (Bell).  Check for the Videotron station.   The Hidden Face of Meat Production, with Sophie Durocher.
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Posted by on Dec 9, 2012 in Human Health, Media Reports, Quebec Horse Industry | 1 comment

Is Horse Slaughter Now a Cottage Industry? Revised

On my earlier posts about the repealing of Section 33 of the Meat Inspection Act of 1990, Alert! Horse Apartheid, and Are you Eating Beef Laced with Horsemeat, there was a revealing comment shared by Theresa Anne Nolet, a horse advocate.  This is what she wrote:

Good day Cynthia just received an email response from Dr.Brian Evans of CFIA in response to an email I had sent him.

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Posted by on Apr 7, 2012 in Another Brick in the Wall, Health and all that Jazz, Human Health, Media Reports, Quebec Horse Industry, Slaughter Facts & Stats | 6 comments

To Eat or Not to Eat… your Horse?

To Eat or Not to Eat… your Horse?

If you read my last blog about the CFIA asking to consult the Canadian public on traceability requirements for food animals (which includes horses),  you also read Roxanne’s comment.  Roxanne sums up everything so well that this blog post is devoted to her comment alone.  Please click the link and read the CFIA’s original notice so you can fully appreciate her excellent points.

How different we are here. A national animal identification system was much protested and rejected in the United States. Implementing an NAIS will be much more difficult for horses. Horses rarely stay on the farm like other animals because they are not “like” other animals, or perhaps better said, other food or dairy animals. Horses go out and off the farm, sometimes every weekend, sometimes daily for trail rides, to riding lessons, to clinics, to horse shows, to see the vet. Horses live a long time and often have several owners. Horses often live in urban environments, in boarding stables. How will that be monitored, Will it further push the cost of horse ownership away from the average person? How will it affect rescues? Local horse clubs? 4H? Pony Club? Wild horses? If they choose a microchip, will that mean another chip for breeds that already have microchip identification? What if it’s retinal scanning? Who is going to pay for all the equipment? This is a strategy for food animals, not companion animals. There is no such strategy for dogs and cats. Along with traceability, what is chosen now will formally define the status of the horse in our society and in our country. It was hashed over for years in the U.S. and rejected. I can’t believe how apathetic the horse community in Canada is to all this, but I’m sure they will complain when it happens. My vote is for choice and for a passport system like the U.K. has, that allows the owner to choose if their horse will ever go to slaughter or not, with tracking necessary only for those who choose that possible end. Let those who would permit their horses to go to slaughter pay the costs of supporting the coming requirements for that industry. Leave those of us who don’t choose that end alone.

 

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Posted by on Mar 31, 2012 in *Featured Articles*, Animal Welfare, Horse Breeding, Human Health, Mustangs | 5 comments

CFIA Livestock Tracking Proposal

Maybe I’m naive but I like it when government agencies seek out the opinions of Canadians on pending or potential legislation.  It makes me feel like, well, like a citizen…a citizen in good standing who has an obligation to participate in the making of law, not just someone, who, by accident of birth, happened to be born on Canadian soil.  

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Posted by on Mar 29, 2012 in Animal Welfare, Health and all that Jazz, Human Health, Media Reports | 2 comments

Curves: Another Bankruptcy

No one was a more staunch supporter of Curves, the women’s gym franchise, than I was.  Almost exactly a year ago, I had an exchange of comments (see Curves blog category) with someone named fitdude, and you could almost see my enthusiasm on the page.  At the time, the Curves founder, Gary Heavin, was in the news, and many franchises in the US had either been closed or had gone bankrupt.

When bankruptcy finally felled my own Curves,

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Posted by on Mar 22, 2012 in Curves (the Women's gym), Health and all that Jazz, Human Health, Relationships (Dead & Otherwise) | 0 comments

Un seul résultat réel

This post is a conversation conducted in French among three people. It pits the informed horse lover against the uninformed horse lover. Nothing new here except for the eloquence of my friend, Evelyne and someone named Cody Leblanc. Please share this post with your French-speaking friends and relatives. It is crucial to get the truth and the facts out there because all Quebec horse lovers need to know what is really happening in their abattoirs. Continuons en français….

Bobinette :   Un débat à deux sens, deux mesures, deux mentalités, mais un seul résultat réel: les chevaux souffrent plus de la fermeture des abattoirs, car ceux qui y ont recours (pour diverses raisons) n’auront pas d’autres options.

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Posted by on Mar 15, 2012 in En français svp, Horses, Human Health, Media Reports, Quebec Horse Industry, Slaughter Facts & Stats | 0 comments