Ricky Bates has won his appeal against the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency which judged him guilty of transporting a lame horse.
The CFIA not only found Bates guilty on the basis of one
horse, but also refused entry to Canada for all 26 horses he was trucking from
Idaho into British Columbia at the Kingsgate border crossing.
He was trucking them to slaughter. There is no horse slaughter
in the United States, but there is in Canada, including a packing plant in
Alberta.
Bruce La Rochelle, who handled the case for the Canada
Agricultural Review Tribunal, said there’s little doubt that animals being
transported experience some degree of discomfort, but the issue outlined in legislation
is whether there is undue suffering.
After reviewing the CFIA evidence, which included photographs
and video footage of the horse in question, La Rochelle ruled that it seemed
quiet and had no significant limp.
Bates filed a report by veterinarian Mark Sargent that the
horses were all fit for transport.
Dr. Andrew Mack of the CFIA said he decided to take a closer
look when he saw blood on the trailer carrying the horses. He took pictures of
blood on shavings inside the trailer and on the trailer gate.
Two horses had bloody nasal discharges and one had a
bleeding cut above its eye. They were not involved in the CFIA discipline of
Bates who was apparently fined, although no amount is mentioned in the tribunal’s
report on the case.
La Rochelle noted that it would require an equine specialist
to determine whether the horse was lame enough to experience “undue suffering”
during transport, and that the CFIA veterinarian Dr. Mack is not an equine
specialist.
Bates said he thinks he was targeted by CFIA people who
oppose horse slaughter.
