Source: by JOSH WINGROVE as published in The Globe and Mail
“Dumb meets dumber in possible live meat deal”
Until a few years ago, Garner Deobald had not set foot in Kazakhstan. The Saskatchewan rancher had little reason to travel across the world to a fledgling former Soviet republic where slaughterhouses had long sat idle.
But times have changed. With Kazakhstan’s thriving oil fields driving a surging economy, the country’s government wants to diversify. That means kick-starting an agriculture sector and turning to Canada – not just to buy Canadian meat, equipment and expertise, but live animals.
Canadian ranchers have flocked since Kazakhstan’s government set aside $900-million to buy breeding cattle. Mr. Deobald first visited Kazakhstan three years ago; this week, he’s making his ninth trip to the country, about which he once knew little.
“I knew where it was on the map, and ran across people that were in the oil and gas business that had been over there,” said Mr. Deobald, who has sold about 800 head of cattle to Kazakhstan buyers in three years. “I think we’re in the middle of a heyday.”
But it is not just cattle. The trade talk now includes horses, which are eaten as a delicacy in Kazakhstan. A memo released under the Access to Information Act shows federal officials last year hosted a Kazakh delegation that wanted to buy 350 Canadian breeding horses to kick-start a domestic slaughter industry.
While no Kazakh money has been earmarked for buying horses abroad, “there is hope that this could change soon,” the Canadian memo says. If so, the delegation envisioned a “substantial market” for Canada in a country that believes it “represents the future in terms of per capita [horse] consumption.”
The memo comes amid ongoing debate about Canada’s role in the world horse meat sector, but also underscores a trade-off facing producers: Kazakhstan represents a rich market for livestock at a time when buyers are drying up, but exporting live animals erodes demand for Canadian meat and helps build a potential competitor.
“We’re interested in that. Let’s face it – if we’re not there, they’ll buy [live animals] from the Australians, the Americans or whomever else. It’s probably true that in some way they’ll end up being a competitor of ours,” says Alberta Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson, who made his first visit to Kazakhstan this year with federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and other officials.
Mr. Olson found a bustling capital (“like Vegas without the casinos”), eager trade partners and infrastructure dating back to the Soviet Union. “So they’re interested in trying to reboot their activity,” he said.
Canada-Kazakhstan trade tops $3-billion annually, mostly in oil and gas. Kazakhstan spent $21-million on Canadian cattle, horse meat and agriculture products last year. The livestock is coveted largely because Canada’s climate is similar to that of Kazakhstan.
“It’s a very nice industry for us here in this country, for us breeders,” said Burt Grundy, president of the board of the Canadian Hereford Association, a beef industry group. He is not concerned about Kazakhstan emerging as a competitor in meat export. “Quite frankly, it would be a long way down the road.”
But beef is not king in Kazakhstan, where an emerging middle class has sent meat demand soaring. Horse meat is a favourite – Mr. Olson tried it on his trip – and Canada sold Kazakhstan $6.8-million in horse, donkey and mule meat last year, compared to $7.6-million in purebred cattle. If Kazakhstan starts buying live breeding horses, it will be with the goal of reducing its reliance on horse meat imports.
“At the moment, we can’t satisfy our demand in Kazakhstan, so we have to import meat from other countries. But in [the] long term, we would like to enlarge our production facilities,” Daniyar Seidaliyev, a trade official in Kazakhstan’s Canadian embassy, said in an interview.
Demand for Canadian horses has dwindled, with the value of live horse exports down 30 per cent over the past five years. Canada exported just over 10,000 live horses last year, for breeding or slaughter, and slaughtered another 82,195 horses at four abattoirs. Belgium, France and Japan are the top buyers of Canadian horse meat.
Horse slaughter is a controversial industry in Canada, with animal rights advocates pushing for adoption of aging animals rather than slaughter. An NDP private member’s bill, C-322, proposed bans on exporting horse meat and horses destined for slaughter.
But Kazakhstan is interested, according to the departmental memo prepared by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada employee Gavin Conacher and obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin.
According to the memo, one of two Kazakh delegations at last year’s Agribition trade fair in Regina asked about buying Canadian draft horses – hulking breeds, such as Clydesdales. The request appears to have caught Canadian officials off-guard.
“Their bigger objective, this particular group, was in the horse meat side. What I can tell is that [the federal officials] didn’t know that was the case when this group arrived, specifically,” Agribition CEO Marty Seymour recalls. He does not get many horse questions. “If it hadn’t been for this Kazakh group coming through last year, I probably wouldn’t have appreciated that there is a market for it.”
Mr. Ritz declined interview requests. The memo says department officials brought the Kazakh delegation to an Alberta horse slaughter facility and says Kazakh officials view Canada “as a leader in the horse meat export business.”
The memo is the only sign that Kazakhstan might want to buy live Canadian horses. A spokesman for Mr. Ritz’s department said the agency is “not aware of any follow-up on activities from the meeting,” and Mr. Olson’s trip this spring included no discussion on live horse sales. A Kazakh delegation is set to visit Farmfair International in Alberta this year.
For now, the focus is on cattle. Mr. Deobald has carved out a niche rounding up suitable cattle domestically and then selling them to Kazakhstan, and hopes to continue while he can. “With most of these export programs like this, they’re very dependent on the support they get from the Kazakh government,” he said.
Mr. Seymour said Kazakhstan remains a “big market” at a time when countries across the globe are looking to Canada for seed stock to boost their livestock breeding. “Agriculture has become agribusiness. It’s not just farming,” he said. “There’s a lot at stake, because countries need food.”
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Oh, right, every being lives for the sole purpose of being commoditized and killed — monetized and murdered. Just what our Maker has in mind for His innocent ones.
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Dear BlessUsAll, you said it all !!!!!
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I agree, Big Time!!!!! Makes me feel very ill, to say the least…..
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These people are ridiculous. What is with these humans around the world? And what market want horse meat? Wasn’t the market dying off? Seems there are too many contradictions in this article. Just trying to make sense of all of this. And so far, none of it adds up. We can’t tell other countries what to do but i do feel that we have the right to control what goes on in THIS country.
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Terri, And keeping the general population in an uniformed, whirlwind state of mind is exactly what those involved in the horse slaughter want. The longer we stay hog tied and unable to move allows more horses to move freely to slaughter without opposition.
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there is hundreds of thousands of horses slaughtered for human consumption every year. Doesnt matter that many have been adminsitered chemicals such as bute that is carcinigenic to humans they do test a couple out of every hundred or so they butcher http://canadianhorsedefencecoalition.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/uppdated-auction-list-and-current-horse-slaughter-statistics/
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I agree but if our government is making money I can’t see them stopping this at all.I wish all the horse slaughter plants blow up I hate it every time I read an article on horse slaughter and see Canada it makes me feel ashamed to be Canadian.I thought we were better then that if other countries want to eat them let them figure out this for them selves and Canada put a end to exporting and importing horses for consumption when we all know they are not safe to eat.and take horses off the livestock list they are PETS.
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Oh dear, whats up with all this again! Yes, I also thought horse-consumption was going down, seems NOT! Lots of reading and red-tape out there, eh! … Whats next, dogs??? shishhhh…
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Looks like the pro-horse-slaughter lobby is looking for new markets & spewing this kind of disinformation on both sides of the pond to manipulate & misinform people here, Canada, & Kazakhstan
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Seems things are really getting out of control for our equines. Assclowns in Canada, horse holocaust in New Mexico, and business as usual for the kill buyers.
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So right Michelle….
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And with our government siding with this holocaust for horses, how are we ever going to protect them from this evil? They dont listen and will not listen as long as theres a quick buck to be made from their blood!! Everything hinges on worldly greed! Seems the best thing we can do here in this country is to enact laws that control the overbreeding and the surplus of horses on the market! We have to push even harder to make it illegal to transport our horses out of country for purposes of slaughter! Make sure we elect only those officials who will fight to save our horses and not support the evil ones!
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The problem, once again, is with greedy, unethical, and immoral people. It’s the same ‘ole case scenario, just in a different country. Oil and gas, big money, horse slaughter. I’m so sick and tired of these people and the whole world would be so much better if they all simply disappeared!!
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Live export across the sea is one of the cruelest ways to transport animals. I’ve read the horrors stories of live exports, especially from Australia who ship sheep, goats and cattle many die a horrible faith from lack of water, food, trampled on or crushed or die from extreme weather temperatures aboard the ships. They just see them as cargo not with a pulse or a soul. And then they are slaughtered in the end. How will this not be the same for theses poor animals? I pray the Canadian people say no to this but it’s big business. Plus, this also means our wild horses and domestic which are transported by kill buyers from the US will eventfully end up in the these shipments as well. Oh grief it never seems to end!!!
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Live export across the sea is one of the cruelest ways to transport animals. I’ve read the horrors stories of live exports, especially from Australia who ship sheep, goats and cattle many die a horrible faith from lack of water, food, trampled on or crushed or die from extreme weather temperatures aboard the ships. They just see them as cargo not with a pulse or a soul. And then they are slaughtered in the end. How will this not be the same for theses poor animals? I pray the Canadian people say no to this. Plus, this also means our wild horses and domestic which are transported by kill buyers from the US to Canada will eventfully end up in the these shipments as well. Oh grief it just never seems to end the way people can think of ways to torture livestock and horses!!!
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OMG!!! The evilness of human beings is stunning. The human rights situation in Kazakhstan is utterly vile and there is no hope for the tiniest bit of compassion for these animals, regardless if they are bovine or equine. I am devastated with this news.
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The problem is that the horse slaughter industry in Canada is very good at covering its tracks and the population in a country like Kazakhstan does not know that horse meat from Canada has not been raised for human consumption and is fact full of toxic medications and substances that can bring ruinous health to humans. However, the slaughter industry smells blood and profit in the same breadth and Canada basically places profit above and beyond anything else. Ask the Europeans who import Canada’s horsemeat what their rate of terminal illnesses have looked like over the recent years.
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Here is an article relating to Kazakhstan and horse meat http://hppr.org/post/kazakhstan-no-horror-horse-meat
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Yah! Right! Smirk….smirk.
The Russian Mafia is going to let “Canadians” expand into the meat industry in Eastern Europe in a pure capitalist’s environment, free enterprise zone.
This is a hoot!!!! What jokers came up with this Krap!?????!
Like the Kazaks don’t have enough equines or bovines.
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Shame on us Canada!
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This is just what the horse breeders in the US has always dreamed of doing. If they could get away with it cattle ranchers would be breeding horses for slaughter right alone side their cows with dollar signs in their eyes. One of the owners of a horse slaughter plant in Canada does raise horses for slaughter, he kills them in his plant and ships them live to Japan. They are flown there in something like a big box that is loaded on the plane for the trip, one horse per box. These are the larger breeds because they weigh in at 2000 lbs. the Japanese pay at least $2000.00 for each one. This is not something new that Canada has been doing. Look at what they have allowed for over 20 years, the slaughter of baby seals by the thousands to the point that the seal population has been dropping for a number of years now especially with sea ice melting that they need to raise their pups on.
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It comes back to the almighty dollar. When are people going to do the right thing and let their morals guide them? It might be a private property issue but its time people do the right thing. JUST SAY NO. We will sell you all the beef you want. But horses NO.
While we’re at it JUST SAY NO to these people for wanting to buy race horses. We know perfectly well where they will end up when there through with the horse. Let them buy horses from Russia or wherever. But for North America JUST SAY NO.
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Horsemeat is as common in Kazahstan as hamburger is to the U.S. This has always been a horse culture. These people drink mare’s milk. During the 2012 Olympics there was a blurb about how the Kazahstan Olymptic team was unhappy that they would not be fed horse meat while in England.
Just for the record. Canada signed the 1992 UN CBD. Goals of the UN under this treaty for the years between 2010-2020 are for the wealthier countries to share their genetic resources for the less wealthy countries. Austrailia appears to be on its way out of the convention with the election of their new government.
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for the frequent flyers to Mexico it is quite common for horse meat to be mixed with beef as it is much cheaper to buy there. Something to thiunk about next time you order a “beef” burrito
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I am so glad I am old and will not have to feel this heartache too much longer. If humane is derived from the word human then we need to change to another word for peaceful,love and tenderness humane no longer applies.
If there is karma or re incarnation or a greater power of the universe.
Then may the torturers,slaughters,and those associated with this whether legislator,investors,greedy blood thirsty money grabbers have to live the suffering of these animals thru out eternity or in their next life.
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