Since 2013, about 40,000 live horses have been flown to Japan from airports in western Canada. Under Canadian regulations, the journey can stretch up to 28 hours, during which the animals are allowed to go without food, water or rest....Animal Friendly Canada? Not so MUCH
The multimillion-pound global trade in fresh horsemeat to Japan is dominated by Canada and France. The little-known sector has burst into public view in Canada in recent years, fueled by footage captured by campaigners of the near-weekly flights. Everything for a BUCK Eh?
“These horses have not been trained nor conditioned for this kind of transport.”
She watched as the horses were loaded, in groups of three or four, into wooden crates that leave just the top of the animal visible. “You hear them in the crates,” said Samson-French. “There’s a lot of kicking going on there.”
At times, the horses appeared to be too tall to comfortably fit into the crates, she said. “These are big horses,” she added. “It’s absolutely impossible for a horse to lay down in those crates.”
Between 25% and 40% of Japan’s horsemeat comes from imported animals, often in an attempt to save on the high cost of feeding horses, according to research carried out by the consultancy Williams & Marshall Strategy.
Canadian government figures show exports to Japan of live horses for slaughter began picking up in 2000 with the sale of 96 animals, worth C$231,000. A year later, the value of these exports had risen more than fivefold; by 2018 it was worth more than C$20m (£11.5m).
Between 2013 and 2020, the value of exports consistently topped C$10m. After reaching a high of 7,111 horses in 2014, exports dropped steadily with 1,606 exported in 2020.
In Canada, protesters from groups such as the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition have for years demonstrated against the flights, usually of 90 to 110 horses and departing early in the morning.
Archaeologists identify 3,200-year-old temple mural of spider god in Peru
Mural discovered last year is thought to depict a zoomorphic, knife-wielding spider god associated with rain and fertility
The mural – applied in ochre, yellow, grey and white paint to the wall of the 15m x 5m mud brick structure in the Virú province of Peru’s La Libertad region – was discovered last year after much of the site was destroyed by local farmers trying to extend their avocado
Experts believe the shrine was built by the pre-Columbian Cupisnique culture, which developed along Peru’s northern coast more than 3,000 years ago. museolarco.org/en/exhibition/…
Defense Secretary L Austin opted to wipe the slate completely clean, dismissing hundreds of members across 42 advisory boards, including a number of last-minute Trump appointees such as former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Trump's deputy campaign manager.
Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) resigned at the request of the Biden administration, according to Aloysius Hogan, a spokesperson for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees the FSIP.
The other two members who refused to resign from the panel, which resolves disputes between government agencies and labor groups, were terminated
China has detained my young children. I don't know if I'll ever see them again @SecBlinken I am a Uighur who was forced to flee Xinjiang five years ago, leaving four of my children who are now in an ‘orphan camp’ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
When I left my children five years ago, I did it in a rush. I didn’t have time to grab any memento's, any toys. All I took was a single family photo. #Uighurs
At the time, my husband and I felt we had no choice. As Uighurs in Xinjiang, the Chinese authorities had been harassing us constantly and demanding that we give up our passports. There would be “consequences” if we didn’t.
This week the county approved an ordinance that would allow thousands of new wells to be drilled over the next 15 years. The decision comes despite deep opposition from local farmers and environmental groups #ClimateEmergency
Farmers voiced concerns about how the land, water, and air would be affected, while justice advocates highlighted how increased pollution would take the harshest toll on the most vulnerable.#ClimateAction
Anger and criticism on social media
“A year ago I was paying maximum 300 liras to heat my 2+1 apartment. This winter, I have had to pay an average of 700 liras each month,” a retired real estate agent from Ankara told Duvar English
Meanwhile, opposition-controlled municipalities such as Istanbul and Ankara have launched campaigns such as “Askıda Fatura” (Bill Pending), where well-off residents show solidarity and anonymously help financially struggling individuals by paying off their utility bills.
Because the Turkish government controls which journalists are allowed to visit Afrin, the stories published by the pro-AKP publications are very similar to what was being published in the NYT. It is striking that the NYT opted not to cover human rights abuses in #Afrin
Several weeks ago, the Islamist Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Şafak cited a New York Times piece, praising Turkey’s presence in the Afrin province in northern Syria.
Yeni Şafak has a reputation as a pro-AKP newspaper with an established record of publishing hate speech
At first, this story appeared to be yet another false narrative published in furtherance of Turkey’s military aims. I assumed Yeni Şafak was only citing the ‘good part’ of the article from the NYT, and must have been leaving out the all-important context.#Afrin