My name is Katarina and I am in grade 4. The reason I am having this petition is because things need to change. The horses on Sable Island are starving to death and freezing from hypothermia in the winter. The government says the horses are wildlife but a seal can swim away and a bird can fly away but what can a horse do other than try to survive.   

Horses were dropped off by Thomas Hancock in 1760 and they were used by humans to build life saving stations for humans. In return, the humans left the horses to fend for themselves.

64 horses die on average per year. In 1961, the Diefenbaker government legally protected Sable Island's horses under the Canada Shipping Act but the law means that you can’t interfere with the horses, you can't touch them, harass them or even provide veterinary care if they are sick.

A study done in 2018 found 50 carcases on the island. They found the main reason the horses were dying was from starvation and hypothermia. They do not have any shelter from wind and cold as there are no trees or caves on the island. Autopsies showed that the adult horse’s stomachs were full of sand and parasites.

In 2013, Sable Island was made into a national park reserve and Parks Canada took responsibility for management of the island and horses.  They try and get people to pay lots of money to camp there and tell people that wild horses are beautiful but it is not beautiful to starve to death or die from the cold in the wind.

Please sign my petition or write to our Prime Minister. 

You may write or fax his office. Email at pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Fax: 613-941-6900