According to a new poll, 90 percent of Canadians support
stronger federal transport protections for farmed animals.
While that may not come as a surprise, this might: 49
percent of poll participants considered themselves to have an agricultural
background.
Conducted by NRG Research Group, the poll reveals that the
overwhelming majority of Canadians agree that at a minimum, animals should not
be transported for longer than eight hours without food, water, and rest;
animals should be protected from weather extremes; and companies that violate
these basic standards should be severely penalized.
Due in large part to Canada’s outdated livestock transport
regulations, every year more
than 8 million farmed animals arrive at slaughterhouses dead or so sick or
injured they are declared unfit for human consumption.
Watch MFA’s Krista Hiddema on CTVNews:
Under the current laws, farmed animals can be transported
for days without food or water. Transport trucks are not required to protect
animals from severely inclement weather, resulting in the deaths of millions of
animals from exposure to extreme temperatures.
Multiple MFA investigations have documented firsthand the
extreme misery and suffering endured by farmed animals during transport.
An investigation of Western Hog Exchange in Alberta showed
frightened animals transported hundreds of kilometres in sweltering heat,
suffering from heat stress and dehydration, and workers using electric prods to
repeatedly shock “downed pigs.
See for yourself:
Mercy For Animals is now calling on Canada’s minister of agriculture, Lawrence MacAuley, to take immediate action to update and strengthen Canada’s outdated
federal transport regulations.
Click
here to sign our petition asking the minister of agriculture to update
these archaic laws.