Protests at 'inhumane' export of live horses to Japan for food
Come take a look at our article to learn more about why the export of live horses to Japan is stirring controversy and what some protestors are saying regarding this issue.
Global trade is slowly getting back to its feet as the COVID-19 crisis stabilizes. However, some questionable trade practices are continuing to haunt the industry hard. One such development has taken place in Japan, where the demand for horse meat is driving the inhumane practice of importing live horses over long-haul flights.
The Exports of Live Horses Face Protests
Earlier this year, the demand for horse meat in Japan continued to rise, leading to large-scale imports of horses. Between 2013 and 2021, nearly 40,000 live horses have been to the East Asian nation via long-haul flights, and this business has become a multi-million-dollar industry. Most of these horses are from countries like Canada and France. However, activists have been protesting against this practice.
The key issue is the condition of the horses on lengthy flights where they haven’t been trained to stay. Most horses to Japan depart from Calgary, and the flight takes around 10 to 12 hours. Moreover, the combined land and flight travel from Canada and Japan might even last for roughly 28 hours. More inhumanely, these animals have to go without food or water on such journeys and are too tall for the compartments in import containers.
“It’s inhumane,” said Sinikka Crosland of the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition, which is fighting against this issue. “Those boxes are the size of a single conventional horse stable, which people normally keep a horse in, and they’re putting up to three or four horses in these boxes.”
Protestors in Canada thus believe that these practices need to be changed immediately. Groups such as the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition have been demanding that such trade activities should be illegal. However, the Canadian government is yet to make a firm decision on this. There have also been calls to ban the sale of horse meat completely, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Nevertheless, protestors will continue their fight against such practices.
In general, these protests indicate an increased degree of awareness regarding the potential impact of exporting certain products. Companies will need to be much more careful in the near future.
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