Brought to you by the Canadian Animal Health

Coalition - Friday, January 29/10

...IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR EQUINE OWNERS...

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.

The collection of this information will better prepare the equine industry

for July 31, 2010 when it will be mandatory for all federally-inspected

equine facilities to have complete records dating back six months for all

domestic and imported animals presented for slaughter.

These requirements apply to owners of horses and their crosses, referred to

as equine. In order to help owners collect all of the necessary information,

the CFIA is launching a new Equine Information Document (EID) that can be

found in the Meat Hygiene Directive no. 2009-49. 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. The document will require an owner-signed declaration to verify

the accuracy of the information. There are a number of medications and

substances that are prohibited from being given (administered or fed) to

equine intended to be slaughtered for human consumption. A list of these

medications and substances can be found on the CFIA web site. For the latest

information about identifying and recording health information for your

equine, please visit www.inspection.gc.ca or call 1-800-442-2342.