Farmscape for June 7, 2005  (Episode 1852)

The Canadian Pork Council has officially unveiled its new Animal Care Assessment Tool for hog producers.

The Animal Care Assessment Tool was developed by a team of hog producers, producer organization representatives, animal care researchers and government as a voluntary component of Canadian Quality Assurance, the Canadian swine industry's national on farm food safety program.

It was officially launched earlier this week in Niagara Falls in conjunction with the Canadian Pork Council's annual meeting.

CPC Animal Care Committee Chair Edouard Asnong says people want to know pork producers are doing things right and this tool is one way to prove it to them.

Clip-Edouard Asnong-Canadian Pork Council

What we want to accomplish is to make sure and to prove that we are taking care of our animals.

We targeted many issues that are part of production, like water and quality of water that is served to the hogs, also the temperature in the barns, the air quality, the room that's available for all pigs to be comfortable and that they can lay down and also that the animals are not scratched or injured by the equipment that we are using.

It's a living tool or a living manual or program that can be adjusted based on research development and those kinds of things.

The Animal Care Assessment tool was reviewed, and its implementation supported, by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, the Canadian Meat Council, the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.

Asnong suggests the launch of this new tool reaffirms the industry's commitment to its customers that producers do provide excellent care for their animals.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council