Killing animals for food is hard for many Canadians to think about. With around 700 million animals transported to slaughter facilities each year, animal welfare is crucial. From being unloaded from trucks, to handled in the pre-slaughter area, it is important to have adequate regulation and monitoring.

The Canadian government has proposed new laws, and comments are due by April 21!

What they did well

Added a section regarding humane treatment, taking into consideration overcrowding, segregation, ventilation and handling.

Our biggest concerns

Oversight & Monitoring	Recommend: A veterinarian employed by the CFIA should be present whenever a group of animals is unloaded or slaughtered. Slaughter facilities must be audited to meet the standards of Dr. Temple Grandin’s Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide, published by the AMI Foundation. Make video monitoring mandatory, placing cameras where animals are moved, held, immobilized, stunned and killed. France has already taken this step to ensure accountability and transparency.
	There are no provisions in the draft law that ensure licence holders are monitored by an external agency. Without monitoring, it is easy for employees to take shortcuts where animals suffer.
Training	Recommend: Adopt a requirement that all employees who unload, handle or slaughter animals have annual training for animal behaviour, handling and humane slaughter techniques. Ensure training is developed by the government and that employees receive a new certificate confirming their training each year.
	In earlier stages of the project there was discussion around a national training program, however this did not make it into the actual draft Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The discussion suggests that there will be national training for inspectors, but does not talk about training for workers (called ‘licence holders’ in the draft law).

We know the draft law is quite lengthy. Feel free to draft your own thoughts, or use what we’ve put together above. You will be emailing your recommendations to the staff at Canadian Food Inspection Agency. If the blue button doesn’t work, email your thoughts to CFIA-Modernisation-ACIA@inspection.gc.ca.

Next steps

• Please, take the time to share this with a friend! The more people that respond to this public comment period, the better our chances are at seeing change.
• The BC SPCA is submitting a response with detailed recommendations on every aspect of the proposed law. For more information, get in touch.