CETFA Foundation

CETFA Foundation CETFA Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to the protection of farmed animals. Learn more at: http://www.cetfa.org.

CETFA Foundation works to advance education by conducting research on best practices related to animal agriculture and other issues related to the welfare of farmed animals in order to improve current understanding and encourage the adoption of better standards for farmed animals and by disseminating the results of that research to the public.

⚠️ Nearly 800 incidents of inhumane handling were documented in Canadian slaughterhouses between 2017 and 2022 — animals...
05/27/2026

⚠️ Nearly 800 incidents of inhumane handling were documented in Canadian slaughterhouses between 2017 and 2022 — animals found dead on trucks, birds crushed in machinery, animals regaining consciousness during slaughter, and injured animals left without care. These cases were uncovered only because researchers forced the CFIA to release the records.

But the real scandal isn’t the number.
It’s what the CFIA does next: almost nothing.

According to the researchers, many more violations likely go unreported because:

🛑 Inspectors are given enormous discretion, leading to inconsistent enforcement.

🛑 Some inspectors avoid the worst areas of plants to “make their work easier.”

🛑 Industry pressure discourages inspectors from slowing or stopping the line, even when animals are suffering.

🛑 The CFIA refused to participate in the study, and inspectors were blocked from speaking.

🛑 Under new “outcomes‑based” rules, slaughterhouses can handle violations internally, meaning many incidents will never be recorded as violations at all.

This isn’t a system failing at transparency — it’s a system designed to avoid accountability.

If 796 incidents were documented despite inspector discretion, industry pressure, and institutional silence, the true number of animals suffering is far higher. And with the CFIA shifting more responsibility to industry, the public will know even less about what happens behind slaughterhouse doors.

Animals deserve more than a regulatory system that hides their suffering and shields itself from scrutiny. CETFA is calling for independent oversight, mandatory reporting, and an end to industry self‑policing. Canadians cannot make ethical choices when the truth is kept deliberately out of sight.

Source: The Conversation, March 10, 2026

🐂 News stories about rising beef prices always focus on one thing: the cost to consumers. But almost never on the cost t...
05/25/2026

🐂 News stories about rising beef prices always focus on one thing: the cost to consumers. But almost never on the cost to the animals, or the fact that meat is only “affordable” because governments heavily subsidize the industry — keeping prices artificially low while the true suffering is hidden.

This latest report notes that beef prices have risen nearly 65% in five years and that Canadians are switching to cheaper cuts or other meats to save money. But the conversation stops there, as if the only issue is what ends up on our grocery bill.

What’s missing is the reality behind those prices:

🛑 Cows raised for beef spend their lives in crowded feedlots, enduring painful procedures without pain relief.

🛑 Calves are separated from their mothers, transported long distances, and slaughtered at a fraction of their natural lifespan.

🛑 The industry’s “costs” are kept low through subsidies, environmental externalities, and the normalization of practices that would be unthinkable if done to dogs or cats.

When we talk only about dollars, we erase the individuals who pay the highest price.

Instead of asking how to make meat cheaper, we should be asking why we continue supporting a system built on suffering at all — especially when plant‑based foods offer humane, sustainable, and increasingly accessible alternatives.

🌱 Eliminating our consumption of meat is one of the most powerful ways to stop this harm and move toward a food system that doesn’t rely on animals suffering for our meals.

Source: CTV News, May 24, 2026

🔥 Another devastating barn fire in Abbotsford has killed at least 165,000 chickens — lives lost in a way no animal shoul...
05/25/2026

🔥 Another devastating barn fire in Abbotsford has killed at least 165,000 chickens — lives lost in a way no animal should ever endure.
And yet, as always, the reporting is brief, clinical, and focused on property damage and traffic closures. The animals themselves are barely mentioned.

But 165,000 individuals died here.
Not numbers. Not inventory. Living beings who spent their short lives crammed inside industrial sheds, denied space, fresh air, sunlight, and the ability to express even the most basic natural behaviours. For animals already living in extreme confinement, a fire is a nightmare scenario: no escape, no chance, no mercy.

Barn fires like this are not rare. They are a predictable consequence of packing tens of thousands of animals into aging, overcrowded, highly flammable buildings — buildings that would never be considered acceptable if they housed dogs, cats, or humans.

We cannot keep looking away.

Canada urgently needs stronger protections for farmed animals, real fire‑prevention standards, and transparency about the conditions inside these facilities. But more than that, we need to confront the system that makes tragedies like this routine.

🌱 Shifting toward plant‑based agriculture is one of the most powerful ways to end this suffering — and to build a food system that doesn’t rely on animals paying the price.

Source: CTV News, May 22, 2026

🐷 How many piglets can a mother pig possibly produce before her body gives out? According to the pork industry itself, ...
05/20/2026

🐷 How many piglets can a mother pig possibly produce before her body gives out?

According to the pork industry itself, modern sows are now expected to carry larger litters, produce more milk, and “perform” at levels that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. But behind the industry’s talk of “survivability” and “lifetime productivity” is a stark truth: these animals are being pushed past their physical limits.

Industry reports acknowledge that today’s "hyper‑prolific" sows live under constant metabolic stress during pregnancy and lactation. The demands of producing ever‑bigger litters leave them depleted, struggling to recover, and increasingly vulnerable to reproductive failure, painful lameness, and early "culling." Many are shipped to the slaughterhouse before their fourth pregnancy — long before their natural lifespan — because their bodies simply cannot keep up.

This isn’t a sign of “poor performance.”
It’s a sign of systemic overexploitation.

When an animal’s worth is measured only in piglets produced, her suffering becomes invisible. But the reality is clear: mother pigs endure repeated cycles of forced insemination, confinement, depletion, and breakdown, all to meet production targets that treat them as units of output rather than sentient beings.

Canada has no national regulations limiting litter size selection, no protections against pushing sows to exhaustion, and no requirement to prioritize welfare over productivity. As long as the system rewards more piglets per litter, the animals will continue to pay the price.

🌱 CETFA is calling for an end to the intensive breeding practices that push sows beyond their limits — and for a transition toward food systems that don't depend on exploiting mothers in the first place. By shifting support toward plant-based agriculture, Canada can reduce animal suffering, ease the environmental burden of industrial animal production, and build a more humane, sustainable future for farmers and animals alike.

Source: Pig Progress, April 5, 2026

🐖 Canada has just approved a new line of gene‑edited pigs—animals engineered to resist a devastating disease that spread...
05/19/2026

🐖 Canada has just approved a new line of gene‑edited pigs—animals engineered to resist a devastating disease that spreads rapidly in industrial barns. What’s missing from the headlines is the part that matters most: the pigs used in the research that made this possible suffered enormously.

To create a “PRRS‑resistant” pig, companies like PIC subjected countless animals to repeated infections, invasive procedures, and the stress of laboratory confinement. These pigs endured the very disease the industry claims to be solving—because that’s how gene‑editing is tested. Their suffering is invisible in the final product, but it is real, and it is the foundation of this technology.

And for what?
Not to improve pigs’ lives. Not to reduce the cruelty of the system.
But to prop up an industry built on overcrowded barns, chronic illness, and the routine confinement of intelligent animals in filthy, stressful environments.

Gene‑editing doesn’t fix the problem—it keeps the problem alive.
Instead of addressing the conditions that allow diseases like PRRS to spread, the industry is engineering animals to better withstand the cruelty.

Canada continues to approve technologies that make industrial farming more “efficient,” while the pigs themselves continue to live and die in conditions no living being should endure.

🌱 The CETFA Foundation is calling for a future where we don’t genetically modify animals to survive suffering—but build food systems that don’t rely on their suffering at all.

Source: Investigative Journalism Foundation, May 18, 2026

🐟 Industrial fishing and fish farming are often marketed as the “better” alternative to meat — but the reality for anima...
05/15/2026

🐟 Industrial fishing and fish farming are often marketed as the “better” alternative to meat — but the reality for animals and the environment tells a very different story.

New reporting shows just how hidden the suffering is. In only three years, nearly 36 million fish died in aquaculture cages in the UK, many from lice infestations that eat into their skin. Treatments meant to remove parasites can themselves cause extreme pain, including exposure to water hot enough to burn. These are practices that would spark public outrage if they involved cows or sheep — but because fish live underwater, their suffering stays out of sight.

Wild-caught fish face a different kind of harm. Bottom trawling can destroy up to a quarter of seabed life in a single pass, releasing massive amounts of carbon and tearing up fragile ecosystems. And despite “protected” marine areas, industrial trawlers continue to operate in them, pulling more than a million tonnes of fish from waters that are protected in name only.

The scale is staggering. Globally, 1–2 trillion fish are killed each year — animals who are now widely recognized by scientists as sentient and capable of pain. Yet they are counted not as individuals, but as tonnage.

Even species once considered “sustainable” are collapsing under pressure. Earlier this year, a major UK retailer suspended sales of mackerel because the fishery could no longer meet basic responsible‑sourcing standards.

When we look honestly at the welfare issues, the ecological damage, and the sheer number of animals harmed, it becomes clear: fish are not a “lighter” or “ethical” alternative. They are simply another group of animals suffering in an industrial system that treats living beings as resources.

🌱 A kinder, more sustainable future means moving away from eating animals — including fish.

Source: The Independent, April 9, 2026

🥛 Ontario’s new 6% milk highlights a bigger issue: health risks for people, and suffering for cowsOntario grocery stores...
05/13/2026

🥛 Ontario’s new 6% milk highlights a bigger issue: health risks for people, and suffering for cows

Ontario grocery stores are now selling a 6% fat milk — nearly double the fat content of standard whole milk. While it’s being marketed as a more “traditional” option, health experts are clear: higher‑fat dairy means higher saturated fat, which increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease — the leading cause of death in Canada.

But there’s another part of this story that rarely makes the headlines: the cows themselves.

Behind every carton of milk — whether 1%, 3.25%, or 6% — are cows who endure a cycle of forced impregnation, separation from their calves, and intensive milking that strains their bodies. Their babies are taken within hours of their birth so milk can be sold to consumers. Mothers often bellow for days after their calves are removed.

Higher‑fat products don’t change this reality. They simply mean more demand — and more suffering.

As conversations about dairy swirl around “taste,” “tradition,” or “nutrition trends,” it’s important to remember:

☠ Dairy’s saturated fat contributes to heart disease, the #1 killer of Canadians.

🐄 Cows pay the price through confinement, repeated pregnancies, and the loss of their young.

🌱 Plant‑based alternatives offer flavour, nutrition, and compassion — without harming animals or increasing chronic disease risk.

Choosing plant‑based is better for your health and for the animals who deserve so much more than a life of exploitation by the dairy industry.

Source: CTV News, May 13, 2026

Maple Leaf Foods has announced that Yves Veggie Cuisine will return to Canadian shelves this July.For many people, this ...
05/12/2026

Maple Leaf Foods has announced that Yves Veggie Cuisine will return to Canadian shelves this July.

For many people, this might be welcome news — a familiar plant‑based brand coming back, potentially with wider distribution and more visibility thanks to a large company behind it. Increased access to plant‑based options can help more people explore compassionate food choices.

At the same time, Maple Leaf Foods remains one of Canada’s largest meat producers, and its history includes serious concerns about animal welfare in its supply chain. Some supporters may feel conflicted about purchasing plant‑based products owned by a corporation whose core business still relies on animal agriculture.

It’s a complicated moment: greater availability of plant‑based foods, but through a company with a troubling track record for animals.

We’re curious how you feel about this development.
Will you buy these products when they return, or does the ownership give you pause?

Source: Green Queen, May 5, 2026

⚠🐂 A new benchmark study on practices in Canadian feedlots highlights the growing use of “efficiency‑boosting” technolog...
05/06/2026

⚠🐂 A new benchmark study on practices in Canadian feedlots highlights the growing use of “efficiency‑boosting” technologies — but behind the industry language is a deeply troubling reality for animals.

A disturbing 82.6% of respondents reported using hormone implants. These implants are tied to severe welfare harms, including lameness and hoof loss, trembling, hyperactivity, broken limbs, compromised immune function and extreme stress. These aren’t rare incidents — they’re the predictable outcome of pushing animals’ bodies far beyond their natural limits to accelerate weight gain.

The same benchmarking report also notes the routine use of in‑feed antibiotics, not to treat illness, but to prevent disease in crowded, high‑stress feedlot environments. This practice fuels the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance, making it harder to treat infections in humans and animals alike.

All of this — the drugs, the suffering, the public‑health risks — exists to prop up a system that treats animals as production units rather than living beings.

🌱 There is a better way. Moving away from animal agriculture would eliminate the need for growth‑promoting drugs, reduce antibiotic use, and spare animals from the intensive, stressful conditions that make these interventions “necessary” in the first place.

Animals deserve more than a system that breaks their bodies for profit.

Source: Canadian Cattleman, May 4, 2026 issue

🌱 Amsterdam just became the first capital city in the world to ban public advertising for meat and fossil‑fuel products ...
05/04/2026

🌱 Amsterdam just became the first capital city in the world to ban public advertising for meat and fossil‑fuel products — removing burger ads from bus shelters the same way cities once removed to***co ads.

Why does this matter?
Because what we see in public spaces shapes what we think is “normal.” For decades, animal agriculture has relied on constant visual cues — cheap meat, fast food, “happy” animals — to keep people consuming products built on animal suffering.

Amsterdam’s move recognizes what animal advocates have said for years:
Meat isn’t just a personal choice — it’s a climate issue, a public health issue, and an animal welfare crisis.

As one Dutch advocate put it, seeing animals’ bodies on billboards shouldn’t be treated as part of an aspirational lifestyle. Removing those ads is a step toward a future where exploiting animals is no longer marketed as normal or necessary.

Canada hasn’t taken this step yet. But it’s a reminder that change is possible — and that cities can lead the way in challenging industries built on harm.

A kinder, more sustainable food system is within reach. We just have to stop advertising the opposite.

Source: BBC, May 3, 2026

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