Jann Arden in Vancouver to oppose export of Canadian horses for slaughter

Singer and songwriter Jann Arden is in Vancouver on Friday to raise donations and awareness in an effort to stop the export of live horses for slaughter overseas.

The Juno award-winning musician is asking Canadians to "say neigh to live horse export" during a free event at 114 E. 4th Avenue from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

According to the SPCA, purpose-bred horses are primarily raised on feedlots in Western Canada and flown to Japan where their meat is eaten as a raw delicacy.

Proposed legislation currently before the Senate would ban the practise of flying live horses for export overseas.

Bill C-355 says the export of horses by air should be outlawed as the animals are subjected to "long flights in cramped conditions" and "experience significant stress during such flights and are at risk of injury because of their tendency to panic."

On Friday, Arden told CTV Morning Live she's been working to ban the export of live horses from Canada for 20 years, saying Canada is one of the few countries still shipping live horses overseas for food consumption.

"These poor things are shipped over there at 18 months old, they endure two days in crates," Arden said. "They're terrified. They fall on each other and they can't get up again."

Arden said the latest campaign is not about protesting or banning the consumption of horse meat altogether.

"I don't care what you eat," she said. "We just don't want horses flown in planes anymore. Whether people want to eat them, that's entirely up to them. We just don't want to fly them around the world anymore."

Arden is also performing Saturday in Surrey at the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey in support of the Options Community Services Affordable Housing Initiative.