An important bill aiming to end the live export of Canadian horses to Japan for slaughter has passed the House of Commons Agriculture Committee, and will soon move on to the next phase of the legislative process! On Thursday, April 18, Bill C-355 successfully passed a vote in committee, and has progressed to the report stage, where the committee reports its findings back to the House of Commons. After that, Members of Parliament will have a vote on the bill, and it will hopefully move on to the Senate.. Every year, Canada raises thousands of horses in barren feedlots and ships them by air from ..read more

A live horse export company is in court in Winnipeg today, facing a charge over a shipment of horses from Swan River, Manitoba to Japan for slaughter that exceeded the 28-hour legal time limit for travel. The gruelling journey was likely over 32 hours long, and three horses tragically collapsed on the plane. On February 27, 2024 Animal Justice successfully laid a charge against Carolyle Farms over the unlawful shipment, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency failed to enforce federal laws designed to protect animals during transport laws, and declined to prosecute the horse export company ..read more

Today, Animal Justice’s director of legal advocacy Kaitlyn Mitchell, testified before the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in support of Bill S-15. This crucial proposed legislation seeks to ban most captivity and breeding of great apes and elephants, and we’re pushing lawmakers to strengthen the bill to include big cats.  The committee meeting is part of the bill’s study stage, where the legislation is carefully reviewed and potentially amended before it has a final Senate vote. The bill would then move to the House of Commons to repeat the process, and hopefully b ..read more

WINNIPEG—Carolyle Farms, a live horse exporter based in Swan River, Manitoba, faces its first court appearance following a charge laid by Animal Justice in February through a rare private prosecution.  When: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 2:00 pm CDT Where: Winnipeg Provincial Court, courtroom 306 The charge under the federal Health of Animals Regulations against Carolyle Farms pertains to an air shipment of horses which unlawfully exceeded the 28-hour maximum time limit for transporting horses without food, water, and rest.  The incident occurred during a flight to Japan ..read more

Caviar and roe are garnishes that cause extreme suffering to fishes, and concerned citizens are speaking up!  On Saturday, April 6, over a dozen animal advocates protested outside a Whole Foods Market in Toronto to demand the grocer stop selling caviar and roe, also known as “ikura”, which is often used as a topping on sushi. The protest drew plenty of attention. The busy area was filled with families shopping and people driving on Yonge Street. Passersby, intrigued by the posters highlighting the cruelty of caviar, paused to learn more, and many signed our petition asking Whole Foods to ..read more

Two more belugas have died at Marineland, bringing the escalating death toll to 17 whales since 2019. The recent deaths underscore the ongoing animal welfare crisis at the notorious Niagara Falls tourist attraction. Animal Justice has repeatedly called on provincial law enforcement authorities to take action to enforce Ontario’s laws and improve the health and well-being of animals imprisoned at Marineland, yet marine mammals continue to perish in barren tanks. Animal Welfare Services (AWS) has allegedly been investigating Marineland since 2020, but officials refuse to disclose any details of ..read more

A win for animals and free expression! Animal Justice lawyers have successfully defeated much of Ontario’s ag gag law in court—a law aimed at silencing whistleblowers and journalists who go undercover to investigate and expose animal suffering in the meat, dairy, egg, and fur farming industries. In 2020, Ontario passed Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, a dangerous law designed to shut down undercover investigations in farms and slaughterhouses, and limit peaceful protests where advocates bear witness to animals in transport trucks en route to slaughter. The a ..read more

TORONTO—Animal Justice is celebrating a landmark court decision that strikes down much of Ontario’s agricultural gag law (Ag-Gag law), which aimed to silence whistleblowers and journalists who work undercover to investigate animal cruelty in the meat, dairy, egg, and fur farming industries. Joining Animal Justice as applicants in this case were freelance journalist Jessica Scott-Reid, and animal advocate Louise Jorgensen of Toronto Cow Save. Passed in 2020 by the Ford government under pressure from lobby groups, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act was enacted to conceal a ..read more

TORONTO—A new report is urging policymakers in New Zealand to clamp down on Canadian pork imports because they are inconsistent with the nation’s higher farmed animal welfare standards The report, “Closing the Welfare Gap: Why New Zealand Must Apply Its Animal Protection Standards to Imports” released by Animal Policy International, the SPCA and the New Zealand Animal Law Association, recommends that New Zealand extend its animal protection laws to cover all products placed on the New Zealand market, regardless of origin.   Report findings include: A significant amount of pork and other ..read more

TORONTO—Animal Justice and Coyote Watch Canada have filed an application seeking legislative review under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), in the hope of ending penned dog hunting in the province, where hunters set dogs loose to chase and often maim or kill wild animals in penned enclosures. The practice of letting dogs loose in fenced areas to hunt down wild animals was being phased out in Ontario thanks to legislation passed in 1997 that outlawed new pens. The number of pens had dropped from around 60 down to 24. That changed last year when the government reversed the ban to app ..read more