New Livestock Transport Rules Restrictive, Farm Groups Say But Animal Activists Cry Foul

New rules governing livestock transportation in Canada reduce the amount of time farm animals can spend in transit without breaks for food, water and rest

by Amanda Stephenson – Calgary Herald

But while some in the agriculture industry say the newer, tighter time frames will make it more difficult to move livestock across the country, animal activists say the new rules fall far short.

The regulations released Wednesday by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are aimed to ensure animals are treated humanely while being transported between farms, slaughterhouses, auction markets and elsewhere. The new rules, which replace guidelines in place since 1977, say beef and dairy cattle can be in transit for 36 hours without a break for food and water, as opposed to the previous standard of 48 hours. Horses and pigs can be in transit for 28 consecutive hours, down from 36, while chickens must receive a break for water after 24 hours and food after 28 hours (as opposed to the previous rule of 36 hours).

“I hope we will see that change in the future, but these regulations are definitely not an example of things moving in the right direction”

 

According to the CFIA, approximately 98 per cent of livestock shipments are already in compliance with the new requirements. However, the agency says the remaining two per cent represents an estimated 16 million animals per year that may be suffering during transport — and added nearly 1.6 million animals per year in Canada (poultry and other livestock) are reported as dead on arrival at their final destination.

“Given the strong public support for preventing the suffering of animals, and the risk to human and animal health, this must be addressed,” the CFIA said in a news release.

Casey Vander Ploeg, vice-president of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, said animal welfare is top of mind for agricultural producers. But he said the new 36-hour rule will be challenging for some in the industry to adhere to, given Canadian geography.

“Primarily, a lot of the cattle that are going long-distance are feeder calves from Western Canada going to Ontario and Quebec to finishing feedlot operations,” Vander Ploeg said. “So there will now be transporters that used to be able to go straight through . . . that may now have to stop and unload.”

Vander Ploeg added that while cattle that are healthy at the start of a long journey generally fare quite well on the road, the most dangerous part of the trip for the animals and their human handlers is the loading and unloading. He said forcing transporters to make an extra stop to unload animals exposes livestock to unnecessary stress and risk.

“It’s a little disappointing that the CFIA didn’t recognize that,” Vander Ploeg said. “What the average person thinks of as a rest stop on a trip, for cattle is more like a stress stop.”

However, some believe the new rules don’t go far enough. Riana Topan of Humane Society International pointed out the average maximum allowed transit time for farm animal species in the European Union is eight hours, for example, while in the U.S. it is 28 hours.

Topan, who said the new rules also lack meaningful requirements to protect animals from inclement weather, said she is concerned the CFIA caved to pressure from the livestock industry.

“There’s just this long culture and history of the animal agriculture industry being able to dictate how they (farmers) do things,” she said. “I hope we will see that change in the future, but these regulations are definitely not an example of things moving in the right direction.”

In an email, Alberta Pork executive director Darcy Fitzgerald said while most hog producers are already operating within the new travel distance limits, the new rules are more restrictive than the industry would have liked.

“We would have preferred a more outcome-based approach and not the prescriptive approach adopted by the Agency as there are many factors to be considered to successfully transport animals,” Fitzgerald said.

According to the CFIA, the new rules — which come into effect in February 2020 — were drafted after extensive consultations with farm groups, transporters, members of the public and other interested groups. The agency said it received 51,000 comments — an “unprecedented number” — after releasing a draft version of the new rules in late 2016.

Animal welfare during transportation has at times been a hot-button issue in Canada. In 2015, a Toronto woman was charged with mischief for giving water to pigs in a truck headed to a slaughterhouse, in spite of being warned by the driver not to. A judge later dismissed the charges.