About | Horse Aid Canada

Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare

Freedom from hunger and thirst

Freedom from discomfort

Freedom from pain, injury or disease

Freedom to express normal behavior

Freedom from fear and distress

Our goal is to prevent horses from entering the slaughter pipeline by directly supporting horse owners through grants aimed at:

making humane euthanasia a more desirable option
reducing the number of unwanted horses through gelding/spay operations

The work of horse rescue organizations is demanding, unrelenting, challenging, heart and gut wrenching, and yet also incredibly rewarding, inspiring, satisfying, energizing and deeply motivating. We at Horse Aid Canada are humbled by their dedication, commitment and achievements and work to support their efforts whenever possible.

Horse Aid Canada is a federally registered non-profit. We have made an application for charitable status and will be pleased to offer donation receipts once it has been approved.

Full Circle of Life Horse Shelter Network

Created in 2019 by Horse Plus Humane Society, the vision was to establish a network of Full Circle of Life horse rescues across the USA within a day’s drive of every horse. The goal is to give every horse a chance to be rescued instead of taken to auction or otherwise enter the slaughter pipeline. Within just two years they achieved their goal and the network continues to expand with more horse rescues joining every year.

A Full Circle of Life Horse Shelter is one that helps horses in every stage of life regardless of their age, behavior, training or medical problems. Having compassion for all horses, no matter what stage of life they are in, is extremely important. Many horse rescue organizations focus on a particular stage of a horse's life: the most adoptable stage. That philosophy leaves many horses with no place to go and no help or resources for them, simply because they are in the wrong stage of life. Every horse is deserving and worthy of help, even if what they need is the Last Act of Kindness.

Horse Aid Canada is proud to be a member of the Full Circle of Life Horse Shelter Network. We hope to work with horse rescue organizations across Canada and have them join as well.

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The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition

The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) is a collective of people and national groups that have joined forces in order to ban the slaughter of equines for human consumption in Canada, as well as the export of live horses to other countries for the same purpose. As a registered non-profit organization, the focus of their efforts are on advocating for changes in law. They have been incredibly effective in gathering wide support amongst Canadians for a petition calling for an end to the exports of live horses for slaughter. It received an unprecedented 36,175 signatures in just three months. The Canadian government listened and the proposed legislative changes have passed the House of Commons and are now with the Senate. Their advocacy efforts will continue with the aim of ending horse slaughter in Canada.

Horse Aid Canada is proud to stand with the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition and promote their efforts.

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Story of Hope

Hope was rescued at the livestock auction in Armstrong, BC in the summer of 2007 after having been starved, neglected and abandoned. Her rescuers named her “Hope” in the hopes she would live. But if she only had a few days left at least she would know love and pass peacefully instead of experiencing the horrors of the slaughterhouse. Hope not only lived, she gained weight, got her health back and I adopted her the following summer.

Hope was a thoroughbred and had a lip tattoo, which indicated that she had been been raced. Her tattoo was scarred, much like it had been treated with a caustic or acidic substance to make it unreadable. Racehorse owners will do this to try and get around track regulations that prohibit sending horses to slaughter because it is costly to keep or re-home them. The horrors of the racing industry are not well known by the public and this is one of those nasty secrets. But there was enough of her tattoo left that I was able to trace her through the Jockey Club.

Hope was born May 5, 1991 at a stable in Oklahoma and her registered name was “Petula Pi”. She had a brief racing career in the USA and I don’t know how she ended up in Canada. She was 17 when I adopted her and she was my very first horse. I knew nothing about horses but when I had learned about horse slaughter I was so moved I felt I needed to do something more than volunteer or donate. I needed to make sure I personally saved an unwanted horse from that horror.

Hope became the equine love of my life. Despite all she had been through, Hope loved life, everyone and everything. She was pure joy. She taught me so much …. things one can only learn from a heart and soul horse. On November 9, 2018 I laid her to rest. I knew the year before that she didn’t have much time left and I promised her that the winter of 2017 would be her last one. We shared just over ten incredible years together. She was 27, a good age for a thoroughbred, so I’m told. No words can express the grief and pain I still feel over losing her. She was a blessing in my life and I am grateful I was able to make her life worth living again.

Hope continues to inspire and motivate me to do good in the world for horses. Horse Aid Canada is in honour of her and her legacy of love.

Laura Cull

President & Founder