Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author Jann Arden is ramping up her campaign against the export and slaughter of horses.
Every year, about 2,500 live horses are shipped from Canada overseas to be fattened up before slaughter.
“The Canadian Horse Defense Coalition doesn’t care what you eat,” Arden with the group HORSESHIT told Global News.
“This isn’t about consumption or monitoring people’s dietary desires. That’s none of our business. This is about terrifying horses, mistreating them. I mean, the word inhumane doesn’t even come close to what they endure.”
Many of the horses are shipped to Japan where basahi, a raw dish, is a pricey delicacy.
Animal welfare organizations in Canada and Japan released a report earlier this month saying government officials are being misled by the industry about the export of live horses.
Canada’s Animal Justice and Japan’s Life Investigation Agency teamed up for the study, which they say reveals that the number of horses who have died as a result of the journey between the two countries is drastically higher than records reported by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
Arden said they receive reports of horses passing out on planes and then dying or suffering injuries such as broken legs.
Global News tried to reach out to the company that is exporting the horses but did not hear back.
Opponents of the trade said the main company is an American-based one that only came to Canada after the U.S. banned the practice more than two decades ago.
“It’s not hundreds of people, its not feeding Canadians, its not serving Canadians,” Arden said.
“It’s a group of businessmen calling themselves farmers who are cashing in on innocent, terrified horses.”
Arden is in Vancouver to host a public forum on Friday night, to raise awareness of the issue.
“It’s just a really unsavoury, sinister practice,” Arden said.
“And we have to end it. It’s not Canadian.”
— with files from Sam Thompson