As a result of their market domination, Google has become more of an institution than a search engine. Therefore, Google’s search data is incredibly indicative of public opinion and interests. Google Trends is an application that’s particularly useful as a timely, robust, and sensitive surveillance system. While it is useful to advertisers looking to create keywords to market their products, we can also use it to create charts that show how often horse slaughter issues and phrases are searched for over time by all Google users interested in acquiring more information on this subject.
An analysis of the term “horse slaughter” in Google Trends shows us how popular the search term is currently as well as in the recent past. I’ve compared the stats from 2004 to 2014 year-to-date for the United States (blue), Canada (gold), and the United Kingdom (red). Initially I compared these countries to France, Japan, Switzerland, Mexico and China, expecting to see some tangible increase over time yet Google Trends yielded no measurable activity.
From the chart we can see that horse slaughter in the US was trending long before the United Kingdom or Canada, which began trending mid-2007 and 2008 respectively. The uptick in slaughter keyword trending activity in Canada began a few years after the launch of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition in 2004, and seems to be linked to that group’s 2008 publication of Black Beauty Betrayed, an Early Investigation at Natural Valley Farms, and the issue of Illegal Dumping of Horse Blood at Natural Valley Farms.
Click on the graph for a link to the live data
Key points in the graph also register the heightened activity in the US and Canada due to:
House votes on horse slaughter in the US (2006)
Anti-horse slaughter bills advancing in Congress (2007)
There was a huge spike in late 2011 likely due to:
The US “ban” on domestic horse slaughter being lifted when Congress passed, when Obama signed into law a USDA spending bill that reinstated federal funding for inspection of horse meat intended for human consumption
Developing interest in Rick De Los Santos horse slaughter plant in New Mexico
Valley Meats first application for a grant of inspection with the USDA in December
The CHDC releasing footage and photos obtained by an anonymous source at Les Viandes de la Petite-Nation in St. Andre-Avellin Quebec (Pasture to Plate)
Also note the increased interest in horse slaughter search terms as a result of the horse meat adulteration scandal in the EU (January – March 2013)
Currently we see that horse slaughter as a keyword search appears to be tapering off in 2013 and 2014 YTD, perhaps due to the cessation of slaughter in the US, the subsiding interest in the horse meat adulteration in Great Britain, and the failure of the anti-slaughter bills in Canada. At the present time, interest in “horse slaughter” as a keyword appears to be in decline relative to the heightened activity from 2006 – early 2013.
“You can’t kill that horse,” said Stacie Clark, who works for the Adena Springs Retirement Program, as she pleaded with management at Les Viandes de la Petite Nation slaughterhouse, for the return of retired Stronach Farms racehorse Backstreet Bully. It wasn’t just small amounts of prohibited drugs that had been given to the horse and thus meant that he was prohibited from slaughter: 21 doses of nitrofurazone, according to Toronto Star journalists Mary Ormsby and Dale Brazao in their article – “Ottawa refuses to say whether drug-tainted horse meat entered food chain.”
Stacie Clark runs billionaire entrepreneur Frank Stronach’s racehorse retirement program in Aurora, Ontario, the town in which I live. In Aurora, it’s impossible to ignore the presence of Frank Stronach and Magna – as a philanthropist, he has funded many public buildings in this town, he hosts an annual hoedown on the front lawn of the Magna headquarters each year, and there are reminders of his influence everywhere. And the individual with whom Ms Clark was pleading with was Stephane Giguere, the then-Director of Les Viandes de la Petite Nation (LPN) in St. Andre-Avellin, Quebec. Bully was alive when she spoke to him too. Of course, LPN was temporarily closed after an investigation published by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) in December 2011 entitled “Pasture to Plate: The True Cost of Canada’s Horsemeat Industry.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Giguere was the Director of the plant at that time as well.
Horsepeople, particularly those of us residing in York Region Ontario or those who are “hard core” rescuers of racehorses know exactly who Stronach is. But it’s a fair bet that the collective brain trust who are employed in horse slaughter itself have no clue who the influential people are, and wouldn’t attach any significance to the name of the man who is the 19th wealthiest Canadian even if it were he who called them up personally. So while the management at LPN may have savored a smug satisfaction by denying Stacie Clark (and her exceedingly wealthy employer), it was a temporary victory.
Stephane Giguere may have been the recipient of a little `quid pro quo`by Frank Stronach. At least, that’s what I prefer to think. He’s been vanquished for a while now, allegedly fired from LPN a few months after Bully was slaughtered. I`m sure many people at the plant including the owners and possibly even people at the CFIA had an “oh shit“ moment after they realized what happened, and especially after the Star article eventually appeared.
For those of us who believe in karma, or the principal that where the intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual, you may get particular satisfaction from believing that deferred justice was apparently visited upon Stephane Giguere. While I personally don’t believe in either karma or ghosts, the idea of “cosmic justice” gives me some peace of mind by imagining that the ghost of Backstreet Bully (perhaps aided and abetted by the Stronach empire) waited for the right moment to exact a little schadenfreudian revenge on Stephane. And that’s what I choose to believe. While the killing goes on, small victories like this give me strength and hope.
Backstreet Bully was not eligible for slaughter. In any case, he was not unwanted. But fake papers ensured that he was slaughtered, despite evidence to the contrary. Omission or falsification of information on EIDs of horses presented for slaughter is an offence. It is very evident when reviewing the EIDs that a pattern emerges and it is very clear to see that some EIDs have obviously been “pre-written” across the top with “Drug-free six months”, and the appropriate boxes checked to agree with this information.
“Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.”
[News conference, April 21 1961] ― John F. Kennedy
Magna Headquarters in Aurora, Ontario
Adena Springs Retirement Program Headquartered in Aurora, Ontario
Adena Springs North behind the gated community in Aurora, Ontario
This has been a most difficult blog post to write. I have watched it many times and cried many tears, especially after adding the Brian Eno soundtrack (from The Lovely Bones) The horses being transported in this video are likely already dead.
You are watching the dash cam of an anti-slaughter advocate, recording the “Roping J” rig with a load of horses heading eastbound on the 401 highway towards Richelieu slaughterhouse in Quebec on November 27, 2013. The video was taken on the 401 eastbound between London and Woodstock Ontario. Jeron/Jeroslav Gold is the owner of Roping J Ranch in Fairhaven, Michigan. He’s a large scale kill buyer who gets many of his horses from traders in Ohio, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Animals Angels reported on the collecting facility in Fairhaven, where the outdoor pen was full of horses and the Roping J truck was backed up to the loading ramp. Gold typically drives up to Canada through the Port Huron border crossing, which is about 1 1/2 hours west from where this rig was filmed.
The original audio track has been removed to preserve the anonymity of the supporter. It has been replaced by a transcript of the driver’s original comments. As the supporter’s car approaches Gold’s rig in the centre lane, you can see clearly that he has attached a horse’s tail above the latch. The trailer has been seen and photographed on previous occasions with this odious “middle finger salute” to animal lovers. It’s a real tail, and he quite often positions it to appear as though a horse is jammed into the hinge or latch. What’s new this time is that there appears to be an actual horse tail jammed in the door at the bottom right side above the door hinge. It is visible from multiple angles in the video. Also notice from the video that the driver of the rig appears to have noticed that his information is being taken, as he encroaches into the driving lane where our videographer is driving. The person who mocks horse lovers by flying a horse tail “flag” and who tries to squeeze the videographer in their own lane is the type of person that is going to be signing off on documents stating the horses are drug free, while putting adulterated meat into the food chain. This is the type of person that we allow control and input into the food chain, someone who is perhaps close to the furthest end of the spectrum of immorality.
Notice that the video was shot late in the afternoon – we can see this via the long shadows of the vehicles travelling eastbound – it is perhaps after 4 pm. From somewhere between London and Woodstock Ontario, it’s just under 9 hours until the driver reaches Massueville QC (excluding stops) and about 8 hours to St. Andre-Avellin, so the horses would arrive very late the same day or possibly the next day. The earliest he could possibly arrive would be 11 pm if he went to St. Andre-Avellin (Les viands de la petite nations slaughterhouse) and even later if he went to Massueville as expected (Richelieu slaughterhouse). What time did he expect to get there?
There wouldn’t be an inspector at the plant at this time – they only work regular hours. And they can no longer unload the trailers without inspectors present, so the horses will have had to spend the night on the trailer until the next morning.
Transcript:
:40 – US DOT 289445
:50 – Got the whole Roping J Ranch Michigan US DOT Number 289445 KYU 243688
Ontario 158517965
Quebec 5841037
1:21 – Michigan Trailer License B675540
2:20 – Truck begins to encroach into driving lane – driver aware that his information is being taken and is squeezing the driver in their own lane?
2:25 – Truck moves back into its own lane and weaves slightly after doing so
A very comprehensively written article by 13 Investigates followed slaughter bound horses journey from the Shipshewana auction in Indiana, near the Michigan border, where Gold purchased almost all the horses offered for sale. He was also quoted in A Toronto Life article about the horsemeat trade in Canada, arguing: “There is an end life for everything. I’d like to know what people want to do with all these horses that nobody wants. I’d like somebody to answer that. [Every day] I see…horses mistreated, skinny, didn’t have proper care and there’s nobody to take care of them. Who’s going to take care of them?”
“I killed every one of those f—ing horses, over 120 of them, if they only knew. I only have five left and the ones that you have. Every one of them is dead. I don’t even know their names and there wasn’t a goddamn thing they could do about it…” ~ Kelsey Lefever
Circle of Death – This is where some of Gold’s “product” ends up – at La Palette in Toronto, where horse advocates have held dozens of protests. Here is co-owner Shamez Amlani (on the left) arguing with protester.
This is not how you do end-of-life. Can’t you give horses “mistreated, skinny” horses a humane death without eating them? And I bet there are no skinny horses on Gold’s trailer. The USDA reports 92% of horses going to slaughter are in good condition and able to live healthy and productive lives. The existence of horse slaughter actually hinders rescue efforts, as rescuers are routinely outbid at auctions by people like Jeron Gold, seeking healthy animals that bring the best price per pound.
Gold’s driving is perhaps typical for kill buyers – in the video One Horse’s Last Steps, which has over 50,000 views, you can plainly see the driver run over a curb and swerve into the curb lane a number of time with a load of horses. And yet another tail can be seen caught in the door.
We will fight you until our dying breath is taken, just like Mary Nash did. Please support these currently active programs:
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition – Latest Postcard Campaign (click to follow link)
Animals’ Angels – Light the Sky – December 7th (click to follow link)
Auditor-General Kenneth Ferguson has been critical of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and now that Health Minister Rona Ambrose has taken over responsibility from Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz for the CFIA’s food safety programs, she has promised swift action to correct the deficiencies Ferguson has identified.
A few days after the AG report, Ambrose announced that the CFIA would increase fines and expand the compliance program. This is probably a good thing, since, in my opinion, the Ministry of Agriculture has shown that they are only interested in promoting food and Big-AG interests, and are not tremendously interested in protecting public health, and it was therefore an obvious conflict of interest. Food safety obviously has to come first, otherwise there is no market. When it comes to meting out fines and jail terms, I don’t care who does the regulating and inspection, as long as the action is taken as quickly as possible and the results are available for public scrutiny.
One of the more useful things the CFIA have taken to doing in the last few years is posting the names of individuals and companies against whom a conviction has been obtained for non-compliance with the various Acts and Regulations. Anyone following horse slaughter issues knows that the transport trade is infested with people of low character who knowingly participate in the inhumane treatment of these animals.
The CFIA has had the power to dispense fines, which they call “administrative monetary penalties” for years. The penalties were used against truckers who failed to meet standards for humane treatment, or for farmers and feed mills who fail to meet other standards. The CFIA says “every person responsible for transporting animals in Canada must ensure that the entire transportation process including loading, transit and unloading, does not cause injury or undue suffering to the animals. The federal requirements for animal transport are set out in the Health of Animals Regulations, Part XII.”
In reviewing four years of fines levied as per the CFIA prosecution bulletins website, it becomes apparent that there are lots of smaller companies and individuals fined, varying from animal transport companies right down to olive oil producers. Fines range from low four figures right up to low 5 figures and occasionally the odd jail sentence, usually to be served on weekends. I saw only two horse transporters who were convicted for improper or dangerous transport conditions. Many violators may never be effectively penalized because the CFIA has no jurisdiction over transporters from the US.
In April 2010, veterinary inspectors of the CFIA conducted a routine inspection of a shipment of horses at the Windsor, Ontario port of entry. As a result, Loerzel Farm Transport Inc., operating as Ontario Corporation number 2023424, was inspected at the Windsor crossing. The inspection resulted in company fines totalling $40,000, while operations manager Manfred Loerzel was fined another total of $6,000 and received a six month conditional sentence. A conviction was finally entered on September 17th, 2013 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Windsor. Note that it took almost 3 ½ years to secure a conviction against this company after two horses died in transit and others were injured by the sharp interior of the company’s trailer, which they operated from April 2009 – May 2010.
Earlier in September 2012, another conviction was obtained in Manitoba Provincial Court against 5133831 Manitoba Ltd., (doing business as Shadow Creek Transport) which entered a guilty plea for one count of contravening Section 143.(1)(b) of the Health of Animals Regulations. In accepting a joint recommendation proposed by Crown and the Defence Counsel, the judge imposed a $7,000 fine on the company.
The incident that gave rise to the charge occurred on November 7th, 2007, when a livestock trailer carrying down or dead horses owned by 5133831 Manitoba Ltd. arrived at the Canadian port of entry at Emerson, Manitoba. Again, please note that it took almost 5 years to get a conviction against this company and the driver. What were they driving during those five years?
Upon examination of the load, numerous draft horses were found down or dead with blood observed inside and outside the trailer and numerous scrapes and abrasions also noted on the horses. Fourteen of the 22 draft horses either died during transport or were euthanized by CFIA veterinarians.
A related court case held in Manitoba Provincial Court on June 4th, 2010, resulted in the driver of the load, Geoffrey Giesbrecht, being found guilty of contravening Section 138(4) of the Health of Animals Regulations. This charge related to the transportation of animals that were injured or unfit for transport. Giesbrecht pled guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail – on weekends.
Both of the transport companies and their staff were/are Canadian, transporting horses from within Canada. Possibly some of these were American horses though. Sadly, we will probably never read about any convictions related to the full-term pregnant mare that delivered in a trailer enroute to slaughter at Les Viandes de la Petite Nation, in a consignment from Leroy Baker.
CFIA officials recommended action be taken against Baker or Sugar Creek auction for this gross transgression, which occurred in 2011, but it never appears in any CFIA prosecution bulletin, probably because CFIA authorities must rely on the USDA to initiate even more convictions and fines that Leroy Baker simply won’t pay. The ATI documentation received and translated by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) indicates that the foal in this incident was euthanized shortly after his brief life began, and the mare was shot on schedule a few hours after giving birth, at LPN.
Foodies, food groupies, or foodniks. Quelle horreur! When I hear these terms, it makes me cringe. I’ve come to be repulsed by it, because nowadays it’s associated with “gourmand” or “epicure,” and while these are not negative terms, most actual foodies are now clearly associated with foie gras, pigs feet, octopus, sweetbreads (or offal), and of course, horsemeat.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying luxurious items or tasteful food. But people who tend to describe themselves as foodies are usually those same people who label themselves as members of a caste of society that is superior to the others. “I’m better than you because I’m more open-minded towards my food. I would never eat instant ramen like you.”
The more lives sacrificed for a dinner, the more impressive the eater. Aside from horsemeat, some of the cruelest meals consist of thirty duck hearts in curry, or ortolan, endangered songbirds fattened up, in pitch-dark cages, who by tradition, have their eyes put out before being force-fed for weeks and finally drowned in a snifter of brandy. The eating of these animals as well as non-food horses is amoral, callous, and profoundly self-absorbed. Such machismo coming out of an evening spent sitting in a goddamn chair….
Chef Tom Colicchio is one of People’s 2007 “Sexiest Men Alive?” Why does he deserve this title? Why do chefs in general receive such an unwarranted amount of attention?
The term foodie also implies that you’re dealing with a person who knows a lot about food in general. And if you’re a chef with a following of chef groupies, you’re going to look extra stupid when it becomes public knowledge that you really don’t know much about food after all. The attention lavished upon some chefs is unseemly. It sure doesn’t explain why People magazine dubbed Tom Colicchio one of 2007’s Sexiest Men Alive. (Sorry, but I just don’t see it.)
Chef Danny Mongeon, of the new horsemeat-serving resto “Hooch,” shall wear the badge of shame in this blog post. Mongeon became somewhat infamous (although his groupies claim he was already famous!) by declaring that he was introducing horse tartare at Hooch in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen.
“I did a lot of research on the farm where I’m sourcing from, La Petite Nation. I’ve been there. I’ve seen the horses. A lot of these people are telling me that we’re serving old race horses and all of this bad stuff, but I just ignored it because a lot of their sources were incorrect.” ~ Danny Mongeon
Here’s your meat still on the hoof at LPN, Chef Mongeon (Caution – Disturbing):
Operating under the assumption that LPN is a “farm” that apparently produces purpose-bred horses has just become problematic for Chef Mongeon. He just ran head first into the Canadian and American taboo against hippophagy. Secondly, Les Viandes de la Petite Nation is not a “farm,” it is a slaughterhouse which has been cited numerous times for cruelty and not following CFIA mandated slaughter methods. It is also the slaughterhouse that killed Frank Stronach’s racehorse, Backstreet Bully, despite the fact that his vet records were faxed to La Viandes de la Petite Nations showing he had illegal drugs in his system and that his previous owners and Stronach Racing were all willing to take him back. He ended up at LPN courtesy of a kill buyer falsifying his EID (Equine Information Document).
Mongeon prepares the awful offal. And I really hope that’s some kind of food stain rather than dirt on your fingernails, Chef.
Mongeon, despite being informed to the contrary, absolutely refuses to acknowledge that these horses are mostly cast-off pets, discarded standardbred or thoroughbred race horses, mares in foal, summer camp horses, trail horses, Amish/Mennonite work/cart horses that have been worked into the ground. When facts from independent sources such as the Toronto Star and Latitude News were posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page, he and his indie followers simply repeated the same derp over and over again. This discussion also moved to an Ottawa Foodie forum where horse advocates were harassed for promoting truthful dialogue. I wonder how many people would eat horsemeat if they were not lied to about its true origin and the veterinary residues it often contains?
This comment was one of many posted on an Ottawa Foodie forum. It received no condemnation whatsoever from the group, yet the horse welfare posters were harassed because we killed the horsemeat-eatin’ mood. Surely the dry-heave factor on that particular post should have prompted some objection, certainly over anything we had posted?
Yes, it’s true – the Zombie Apocalypse is real.
Mongeon will NOT tell his patrons the truth about the horsemeat he serves. He and his groupies only respect those customs, traditions, beliefs, cultures—old and new, domestic and foreign—that call on them to eat more, not less, and without regard for where it is sourced. Mongeon’s claims about the happy LPN “farm” are meaningless. All that’s required to perpetuate his stupid unenlightened remarks are dull-headed food freaks to circulate the dogma. It’s time to hold chefs accountable for the misinformation they perpetuate about their food sources.
This is the pretty unrecognizable cooked version of the pig’s foot shown to the left.
Part of what makes Mongeon’s claims about horses and LPN so obnoxious is that the Federal Health of Animals Act is not enforced, which would protect sick, pregnant and unfit horses, and prohibit overcrowding; the Recommended Code of Practice for Care and Handling of Farm Animals: Transportation of Horses, is not enforced. The CFIA does not enforce their own weak rules that slaughter bound horses must not be transported for longer than 36 hours straight and must be provided with feed, water and rest at required intervals. Double-decker trailers are still allowed in Canada. Horses are shipped in crowded trailers over long distances, and often arrive injured, sometimes fatally. Horses, unlike most livestock, do not travel well. So, suffice it to say, they don’t always respond well when being transported from kill auctions in the U.S. to federally licensed slaughterhouses in Quebec and Alberta.
Since 2007, inspectors have been banned from the kill floor for their own safety, since the adoption of firearms has been implemented to stun animals, so their role is basically an administrative one now. So how could inspectors intervene when humane incidents have occurred, as revealed by a CBC probe and in undercover video by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition? I guess Danny Mongeon’s “research” just never uncovered any of these uncomfortable truths……
Apparently, there’s really no civilized value left that foodies or chefs cannot destroy.
Horse advocates have had a busy year working to prohibit the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption. Horse protection groups released many damning reports of abuse and drug contamination, and took aggressive legal action to discourage slaughter.
Undercover footage helped support our position, and numerous investigations were publicized. Citizen advocates monitored illegal trucking activities and for the first time, retrieved horses directly from slaughterhouses. Pro-slaughters proved, via their own (in)actions, that slaughter does not prevent starvation.
We were also aided by the improved sensitivity of testing protocols in the EU, which continued to reveal drug contamination of horsemeat, a finding which is continually met with silence by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, although the subject of drug contamination is making its way into the food webs. We’ve told restaurants in both Canada and the US that we don’t want horses on the menu.
Horse killers, kill buyers and their enablers did not have a good year – several were charged with felonies. Slaughterhouse Sue and Dave Duquette were unable to open any of their proposed slaughterhouses, despite performing an endless kabuki dance around the true status of the plants. Duquette also forgot to send a cheque to renew his own domain name on the web and subsequently lost www.daveduquette.com to a pro-horse HSUS site.
We’ve grown more media savvy too, with PSAs and billboards getting the message out. We are mobilizing via different social media platforms to petition lawmakers. Numerous examples of “horse hoarding” received publicity as well, with advocates rallying to promote horse adoptions through the increased use of Facebook groups. We’ve also demanded that horse killers and those who fail to protect horses and humans be justly punished. However, despite our best efforts to keep Senate bill 1176 and House resolution 2966 active, they both died without ever being brought to a vote.
The challenges in 2013 will be even greater, as the EU moves to ban importation of North American horsemeat and the full force and effect of the ending of the slots program in Ontario are felt. HWAC, Equine Canada and the FEI are also launching “prototype” chipping programs, ostensibly to ensure compliance with 2013 EU regulations. As we fine-tune all our programs and advocacy efforts, we look forward to a most challenging year, but no doubt one filled with hope that we might be seeing the final death throes of the horse slaughter industry. Happy Holidays indeed!
Written by: Heather Clemenceau
heatherclemenceau 