Horse Health Records

[Paintedhorses]

LMBO, CM you never cease to crack me up!!

I usually try to keep records, although the last few years I've been less then impressive in this department!
I don't usually record how much of something I give, but I suppose I could if I had to. The vet is easy one, I always use the same vet! lol

[Serendipity]

I won't panic as the rate of speed the government moves at is such that by the time they get "it" together they'll be worrying about something else. I must agree with CM on this too.

Government is not leading this initiative, this is industry lead. And since I work for the government, I'll keep the rest of my comments to myself so I can be sure I will still have a job tommorrow!

[codymccue]

@ Serendipity - it's a wise critter that doesn't s*%t where it sleeps

and regardless of who is leading this initiative...I stand behind my comment about the Gummint...for so many different reasons

[frostqh]

Here is a link to all the info. from the CFIA on this . . .
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fss ... exee.shtml

I don't know, do they really think that someone selling a horse for meat is going to fill all this in and actually declare that they have given it some sort of drug in the past 6 months??? Unless they are doing random testing or something like that???
Or does it mean that horses that need to be treated with some of the drugs listed just won't get treated???

Sounds like it is just for horses that are intended for slaughter but it does say that if you sell a horse this information must go with the transfer of the horse . . .and it talks about registered or non-registered equines . . . kind of confusing, but since I would hope that nothing we have here will be going for slaughter, I would assume that we don't have to fill it out - but need to read it again to get this exactly clear . . .

A lot of the drugs listed are things that are used a lot by a lot of people . . .

[silverdreamz]

Like seriously they want a picture that contains the name of the horse in it....half the stuff that is listed on the description portion you dont even need to register said animal with the organization like the AQHA and you need to know the exact date you came into ownership of said animal...and lets not forget you have to use a red and a black pen to fill out the markings description....IMO all this waste of time and paper is is another ploy to try and shut down slaughter of horses, if they cant shut them down directly then they are going to over load them with red tape and paper work

it will be interesting to see how many of these papers actually get filled out correctly because according to them you cant treat you horse with Nitrofurazone Ointment or any Phenylbutazone product if they are to be used for slaughter....from what i gather it is still ok to use penicillin and to deworm them but at the rate these ppl are going who knows

why dont they do ALL this crap for cattle owners....cause they wouldnt be able to, sure they have the CCIA tags to track were they came from but they dont have to take pictures and fill out miles of paper work

again this is just my opinion/.02...

[frostqh]

why dont they do ALL this crap for cattle owners....cause they wouldnt be able to, sure they have the CCIA tags to track were they came from but they dont have to take pictures and fill out miles of paper work

again this is just my opinion/.02...

No kidding - why would one animal that is being sold for food have more regulations than another?? Supposedly the european market is demanding these type of records (from what I have read anyway).
Next they will be requiring ear tags in the horses . . .

There will be many down sides to this . . . animals that should be treated for an illness won't be treated because the drug is not legal, animals that don't have all the paper work won't be of any interest to the meat buyers (so they won't be bidding against anyone and possibly bidding the animal up in price). Not that I would want to sell a horse for slaughter but it could drive the price down even more on the many unwanted horses we have already (no one will buy them, not even the meat buyers, because they don't have any records). Are lame or injured horses going to be kept in pens (and alive) for 6 months, with no treatment because the meat buyer needs a 6 month health record on them????

I think this will definitely cause more problems for the horses that do have to go to slaughter.

At least if you have no records on your horse, maybe it won't be able to be sold for slaughter (at least not for 6 months).

[Tricia]

Anybody got an update on this? going back through the links again:)

[frostqh]

I don't have an actual update - just hearing rumours (hopefully they are just rumours) that all horses will have to be microchipped. Not sure if it is the same program but from what I am hearing it does have something to do with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, so could all be the same thing.

Has anyone else heard this or know where to find some concrete information?

[Serendipity]

Unless I haven't heard, I would guess that the microchip talk is just a rumor. In January, SaskHorse released this statement:
http://www.saskhorse.ca/pages/news/2010/jan29a.php

Effective January 31, 2010, equine owners, intending to sell animals directly or indirectly to Canadian meat processors, are being advised to record certain information. Equine owners who wish to keep their sale options open should record all vaccines, medications given (administered or fed) to their animals and record any occurrence of illness in their animals.

Sask horse provides a sample record sheet:
http://www.saskhorse.ca/pdfs/2010/Horse ... Record.pdf


CFIA brought in these changes since they are now required to have complete records of all horses going through their facilities for slaughter. More information can be found on the CFIA website here:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fss ... exee.shtml

Basically, this is not something that is being enforced upon horse owners. It simply means that IF your horse should happen to end up going for slaughter you will need records from the past 6 months. Many of us don't plan on sending our horses to slaughter, but if circumstances change or if there is an emergency, having the records already available will just make things easier. I know personally I already keep records of my horse's health so nothing will really change for me.

[frostqh]

According to the info. on the Sask Horse Federation website and the CFIA website this is only the "first step". Which would mean there is more to come. . .
and in several different places, including these 2 websites, it always says "anyone selling equine may have to provide an EID at ownership transfer." So, it just isn't clear as to whether this affects everyone or not - and with the more to come, who knows what that will be and why are they not telling us the whole plan? They seem to be just giving out information a little at a time . . .

I am also hearing (again, not sure if it is true) that the traceability program for all equines that they tried to put in place a few years ago has now been taken over by the CFIA and the goal for that was to have every horse identified.
So, if anyone has more info. on this please post it - it would be good to know if it is true or not.

Quote from SK Horse Federation - "The EID is the first step in the development of a comprehensive food safety and traceability program for the Canadian equine industry - for both domestic and international markets. Anyone selling equine may have to provide an EID at ownership transfer. "

It is all confusing, but I guess we will find out soon enough.