What to do if your horse is stolen or goes missing

What to do if your horse is stolen or goes missing

If you Are in Western Canada, IMMEDIATELY call the Brand Inspector, Tim @ Bouvry Exports in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. (403) 634-5799

Tim inspects all loads of incoming slaughter horses at the plant.

Unbranded horses can be offloaded by anyone claiming ownership and will often be slaughtered the same day they are delivered.

CALL THE RCMP FILE A REPORT with livestock investigators.

* B.C contact Cory Lepine RCMP BC Livestock Division @ (250) 314-1800

* Alberta call Livestock Investigator Andrew Grainger @ (780) 509-3293

*Next call the brand inspectors in BC and AB (or your province).

*BC Brand Inspectors @ (250) 314-9686

*AB Brand Inspectors @ (403) 553-2844

Contact International Horse Registry with all pertinent information available so we can file an “Equine Alert”.

Please have pictures available if you are not already Registered with the I.H.R.

equinealertihr@gmail.com

 

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$7500 REWARD:  Stolen horse headed to slaughter?

$7500 REWARD: Stolen horse headed to slaughter?

This post will be updated if Molly is found.  October 14th, 2018  she is STILL MISSING.

Cydesdale mare missing in Alberta and presumed stolen. Please help Cindy Thomas find her horse. Please share far and wide. Details below.

Cindy’s phone number: 780-898-8776

6yrs old. No brands. Her name is Molly. Last seen Saturday evening. Located in Entwistle/Evansburg, Alberta, Canada.(West of Edmonton & Spruce Grove.) BUT she could be almost any where by now.  If you see or hear of ANY horse matching this description please call Cindy at the number above.

 

$7500 REWARD – SCROLL DOWN

Thanks to CITY TV (above) who was the first TV network to pick up this story.

CITY TV Edmonton: Follow up story (Molly is still missing.)

2 Minute video clip.

CTV NEWS Edmonton:

The CTV Edmonton News Report (VIDEO ABOVE) about Molly the missing Clydesdale references a story from 2017, where two pet horses were slaughtered for human consumption.  Details on that story may be found by clicking here.

This horse was among smaller horses who were not taken, this mare is a draft, a very large horse, the type that brings more money when sold for meat so unfortunately the assumption is that this horse has been stolen to be slaughtered in Alberta, Canada and the meat sold for human consumption.

(YES, unfortunately Canadian and American horses are routinely slaughtered in Alberta, Canada, even though the practice has been banned in the United States.)

ALL types of horses, every age, size and colour, papered or not, including pregnant mares and very young horses are slaughtered. Well trained included. Family pets, slaughter does not discriminate.

Additionally, draft horses like this horse are also shipped every week to Japan to be slaughtered there, again for human consumption.

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Please share this missing horse far and wide.

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CINDY THOMAS WRITES:

PLEASE come forward…

PLEASE drop her off at a secure field. PLEASE being her home…no questions asked… I’ll help you unload and give you money for fuel… tell me what I can do.

Contact anyone on my friends list and tell them..

contact a rescue and make an anonymous call.

And if you truly can’t do that… can you tell someone at least that she’s safe??

******REWARD BEING OFFERED*******

A kind neighbour started a fund to get a reward offered.

Please do not in ANY way feel obligated to add .. just the support of you guys had been TREMENDOUS!

I can not thank you all enough for helping me share her photo and info… if she gets too hot, hopefully we can get her back!!

Share, share, share!

https://www.gofundme.com/xg286-coppers-surgery?member=829124

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

Unfortunately the paper trail when selling horses for slaughter is extremely weak.

Horses can be dropped off at a slaughter plant, and the person dropping off simply fills out a form stating that they are the rightful owner of the horse and that it has not been treated with drugs that are not meant to enter the human food chain.

The document when selling horses to a slaughter facility is based on the honour system.

There is NOT a mandatory hold time before slaughtering a horse that has been sold directly to the slaughter plant.

There is NOT any verification of ownership required by the slaughter house (unless the horse is branded), and again horses may be slaughtered the same day they are sold to the slaughter facility.

AS A HORSE OWNER….

Really think about that for a moment.

Depending on where you live, especially if you are in British Columbia, Alberta or Saskatchewan, you could be at work.  Someone could pull in, load your horse, drive to a slaughter plant in Alberta (For example for most of those on the BC Horse Angels team, about 5 hours) and YOUR horse could be sold and slaughtered before you even know that he or she is or they, are missing.

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Stolen Horse Sold for Hamburger

Stolen Horse Sold for Hamburger

This story is definitely re-post worthy.

This story is a reminder to all of us in Canada who live within a days drive of where slaughter plants are in Alberta, or Quebec, about how easy it would be for any of our horses to be snatched and slaughtered before we even knew they were missing.  For example, International Horse Registry Director Tina lives within an easy drive of an Alberta slaughterhouse as does our webmaster.  So this story is pertinent to those who live ANY where in Canada, but especially in the provinces of Alberta and Quebec and neighbouring provinces, like British Columbia and Ontario.

Every horse owner within Canada or the United States needs to be aware that any horse can be stolen and because there are not protocols in place at slaughter plants, to double check that a horse is stolen, any of our horses could be slaughtered for human consumption without us being notified first.

Click the link below to listen to a Blue Sky Radio interview with Sargon’s owner.

Unfortunately slaughtering horses in Canada is legal. The practice has been banned in the United States but horses from the United States are routinely shipped to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered.

There have been other well documented cases of horses disappearing and being slaughtered.

As of the date of this Blog Post Molly a Clydesdale is still missing. She disappeared September 22nd, 2018.

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Retired CFIA Veterinarian Speaks Out Against Horse Slaughter

Retired CFIA Veterinarian Speaks Out Against Horse Slaughter

Horse meat sold in Canadian Restaurants?

http://bchorseangels.com/toronto-restaurant-serving-horse-meat/

Link to articles describing study proving that horse meat ends up mixed in with other meats in the human food chain in North America.

http://bchorseangels.com/advertised-as-beef-or-pork-horse-meat/

Canada shipped over 5,000 horses, draft horses, to Japan last year for slaughter there.

Canadian Horse Defence Coalition pictures and videos mentioned in recording above.

http://bchorseangels.com/horses-slaughtered-for-human-consumption/

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2 Pet Horses Stolen & Slaughtered for Human Consumption

2 Pet Horses Stolen & Slaughtered for Human Consumption

As you read this, we are sure you are going to want to help bring an end to horse slaughter in Canada.

1.  PLEASE consider taking a few minutes to contact your Member of Parliament and tell them that you want the slaughter laws relating to horses changed ASAP.

FIND YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT by CLICKING HERE.

2.  PLEASE also consider leaving a comment on each of the sites/news stories listed below,

INCLUDING on the CTV Facebook page by clicking here.

3.  Sign the Petition included below.

4.  SHARE this post on your social media.

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Unfortunately the Canadian government allows for the legal slaughter of horses for human consumption. Most Canadians upon learning this are generally first in shock, and then once they realize this to be true, they are disgusted.

 
One might assume that there would be protocols in place to check that horses delivered to be slaughtered are not stolen but unfortunately what this situation proves is that there are not adequate protocols in place.
 
This is not the first case of beloved family pets, perfectly healthy, sound and loved horses being stolen and slaughtered in government approved plants, and unfortunately unless laws are changed this will not be the last.
 
These horses like many others were delivered and documents signed by those who stole them, the claims on the documents were not checked. Again, protocols are not in place, there is not a holding period after delivery, horses are simply sent straight to slaughter.
 
Additionally plants are private property and without a warrant the RCMP and other law enforcement may not be permitted to inspect the premises, so even if you suspect that your horse has been delivered, by the time a warrant is issued, it may be too late.
 
Many Canadians live within a days drive of a horse slaughter plant. Any of us could go to bed and wake up to find that a fence had been cut in the middle of the night, horses loaded and before we could do anything about it, our horses could be slaughtered.
 
What can we do to facilitate a change – to prevent this from happening in the future?
 
Contact your Member of Parliament, take a moment and pick up the phone and call them and tell them that you want to see the slaughter of horses banned in Canada the same way the United States has banned slaughter.
 

Share this post on social media, and ask your friends to call their Member of Parliament and to share this post as well.

 

 

From the Calgary Herald:

Kathy O’Reilly says she still feels numb after learning from RCMP Monday that her two beloved horses, reported missing over the weekend, were stolen, shipped to a nearby slaughterhouse and destroyed.

O’Reilly, a former Medicine Hat resident who now lives on Vancouver Island, was contacted around mid-April and informed she would have to move her Arabian-bred horses, Cocao and Bella, to a new facility.

But when her daughter got to the property in Stirling on Saturday, about 250 km southeast of Calgary, to pick up the horses and move them to a new facility near Waterton Lakes, she was told they had been taken to the Picture Butte auction market. After further inquiries, O’Reilly said she found out her two horses had actually been taken to a slaughterhouse in Fort Macleod.


Click here
to read article in Calgary Herald

CTV NEWS REPORTS: 

“How do they not provide proof of ownership to the packing plant? The other issue is why is there not a hold on horses that are brought there in case they are stolen?” says O’Reilly.

CTV News contacted Bouvry Meats and were told they can only say the RCMP is investigating and that there is no fault on the part of the company.

RCMP say their investigation is in the very early stages and an officer with the Livestock Investigation Office has been assigned to the case.

O’Reilly lives in Southern Alberta before moving to Port Hardy, B.C. and has had both horses for over 20 years.

“They were family. My kids grew up with them.  You know at the end of the day, nothing is going to be able to bring them back,” says O’Reilly.

RCMP say they may have an update on the case Tuesday.

Read the full CTV report.

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Calgary Sun

Spending the weekend holding out hope that Cocoa and Bella would be rescued, she learned the devastating news Monday morning after she was contacted by Mounties.

“Everything is just a blur,” O’Reilly said. “I’m in denial, I’m heartbroken, I’m angry and I’m sad.”

Read the full story by clicking here.

 

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