West Nile Virus Information

The Fred Pearce Memorial Lecture

Frederick William Pearce was born in 1917 and spent his life on the 320-acre Pearce family farm near Huxley, Alberta. Horses were his passion. He grew up working the farm with teams of horses, and kept horses even after tractors replaced horsepower because he enjoyed their companionship and derived pleasure from caring for them. Once a horse came to the Pearce farm, it stayed for the rest of its life. Fred’s horses either died of natural causes or were humanely euthanized by a veterinarian if their quality of life could not be maintained. All are buried on the Pearce property.

When he died in August 1993, Fred left the proceeds of his estate to the Alberta SPCA. Because of his deeply-felt desire to help horses even after his death, it was decided that the Alberta SPCA would annually sponsor a speaker who could address issues of direct relevance to the humane and ethical treatment and use of horses. The first Fred Pearce Memorial Lecture was delivered at the 1995 Horse Breeders and Owners Conference, and has been an integral feature of each successive conference. Since a third of all calls to the Alberta SPCA Animal Protection Services involve horses, this is a fitting way to help animals and pay tribute to Mr. Pearce and his love for horses.

Fred Pearce Memorial Speakers