AFAC Calls for Proactive Approach to Addressing Animal Welfare Questions
Farmscape for December 24, 2002 (Episode 1144) The Alberta Farm Animal Care Association says Canada's livestock industry needs to adopt a proactive approach to implementing the systems that will reassure the public that codes of practice are being met within Canadian livestock operations. Alberta Farm Animal Care Association Manager Susan Church says, in the past, livestock producers have held up the Canadian codes of practice and asked consumer's to trust that they are doing a good job. She says the retailers are now saying 'prove it'...so industry needs to look at very simple auditing or verification steps to provide that proof. Clip-Susan Church-Alberta Farm Animal Care Association The change in public attitude is often being driven by those well outside our industry with far different motives and that's the animal rights organization. Sadly they're painting our industry with a very negative picture. On the other hand they've been effective in creating some obvious change that needed to be changed. All of that has heightened the consumer's awareness but today's consumer whether they're buying television, a car or a piece of meat want more information. The vast majority of consumers want reassurance, just let me know that the food I'm eating comes from animals that have been humanely raised. I don't want to worry about anything more. I don't want to feel guilty about eating this piece of meat or drinking milk or having eggs. That's where we need to start. We need to start building trust with consumers and verifying that in fact the animals are well looked after. Church says it's to the advantage of the livestock industry to be driving this and she suggests that is already happening. She says the simple fact that livestock industries are tuned into the issue and are talking about it shows they want to do something. She says it's already on their agenda and it's part of their strategic planning. For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane. *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council