A federal tribunal in Canada has upheld a $6,000 penalty
against a livestock trucker who transported 270 pigs from Alberta to British
Columbia in sweltering heat. A federal inspector confirmed that 30 pigs died of
heat-induced heart attacks or “porcine stress syndrome as temperatures inside
the trailer climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
A similar penalty was recently leveled against another
trucker who allowed 537 chickens to freeze to death en route to Maple Lodge
Farms in Ontario. These fines, however, are the exception and not the norm. Sadly,
more than 8 million animals die every year during transport in Canada from
dehydration, starvation, suffocation, and severe injuries due to overcrowding.
Earlier this year, an MFA investigator exposed the horrors
of Canada’s livestock transport industry. The disturbing
hidden-camera video shows pigs too sick or injured to even stand being
painfully shocked with electric prods, kicked, beaten, and violently rammed
with heavy gates; and frightened animals transported hundreds of miles in
sweltering heat, suffering from heat stress and dehydration.
Watch the hidden-camera video footage here:
Canada’s livestock transport regulations are the worst in the Western world, and lag far behind both the European Union and the United States. Farmed animals are often trucked thousands of miles for up to 52 hours without any food, water, or rest, resulting in the deaths of millions of animals each year. Many animals sustain such severe and crippling injuries from extreme overcrowding that they are declared unfit for human consumption and killed upon reaching their destinations.
Take Action
Please sign the petition here calling on Canadian
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to swiftly update Canada’s livestock
transportation regulations to prevent unconscionable animal cruelty.
And remember, as we
work to expose and end cruelty to animals at the hands of the meat, egg, and
dairy industries, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to prevent the
needless suffering of farmed animals by adopting a healthy and cruelty-free
vegan diet. Visit ChooseVeg.com
to learn more.