Live horse exports: Rally outside Winnipeg courthouse as Animal Justice proceeds with private prosecution

Protesters and animal rights advocates gathered at the Winnipeg Law Courts building Thursday, calling for answers.

Animal Justice is proceeding with private prosecution over what they claim is an unlawful shipment of animals after three horses allegedly collapsed during a flight in 2022.

“We think that transporting horses by air, in the first place, is inhumane,” said Randy Tonnellier, the chair of the Winnipeg Humane Society’s farmed animal compassion team.

“It’s just a whole horrific experience for horses and for us knowing about it. So that’s why we are here today,” added Joyce Miniotas with Manitoba Animal Save.

Animal Justice laid a charge in February 2024 against Carolyle Farms, a live horse exporter from Swan River, Man., in connection with a Dec. 12, 2022, shipment of live horses from Manitoba to Kagoshima, Japan.

Once in Japan, the horses are “fattened, slaughtered, and eaten as a raw delicacy,” Animal Justice said at the time.

Animal Justice says the plane was originally supposed to stop in Anchorage, Alaska. However, heavy snowfall prevented that from happening. Carolyle Farms then reportedly rerouted the plane, which meant the horses would go without food, water, and rest for 32 hours – over the legal limit of 28 hours.

Three horses are said to have collapsed during the flight.

“And as we all know, the horses can be very frantic and timid, so it’s pretty horrific for them and for other horses around them that are experiencing it,” Miniotas said.

Activists are calling for justice for horses that are still being shipped from cities across Canada.

Danae Tonge, an organizer with Manitoba Animal Save, was among the people who observed and documented the 2022 shipment. She says, as the trial is ongoing, she is aware of another shipment from Winnipeg in the upcoming weeks.

“There have been cries all across Canada for many years against this,” Tonge said. “We are seeing abuses happening, we are seeing laws being broken on these shipments and we just ultimately would like them to be banned.”

Dr. Erika Spek, a witness who testified in court, said following changes in regulations in 2020, the transporters are not obligated to provide the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) with updated contingency plan for each shipment.

Lyle Lumax, the owner of Carolyle Farms Ltd., pleaded not guilty in court Thursday.

“Our hope is that there will be conviction and that there will be justice for those horses,” Tonge said.