Locals to protest slaughterhouse practices

'FOR THE HORSES OF CANADA'

KAMLOOPS – A group of concerned citizens are expected to gather tomorrow in Westwold to denounce the practice of a local slaughterhouse.

Protestors are set to meet tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Westwold Elementary, alleging KML Meat Processors is slaughtering horses. InfoTel left a message with a representative from the Westwold facility who said no one was around to speak to the matter until next week.

A Facebook event entitled 'Protest Westwold Horse Slaughter Plant' has garnered almost 1,000 likes since it was started in late September.

Jacquie Sharpe has spearheaded the online forum.

"First and foremost we are doing this for the horses of Canada, and my hope is that this will be a peaceful demonstration," she wrote in a post to the event wall.

An online petition has over 2,700 online signatures urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end the slaughter of horses in Canada and support amendments to the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.