Livestock Welfare The Pressures, The Challenges

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Livestock WelfareThe Pressures, The Challenges
The Action

• University of Lethbridge
• November 2008

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First of AllWho? What? Why? AFAC

• Partnership of Albertas livestock groups

• Promoting responsible animal care
• Engaging in discussion with public
• Monitoring issues legislations
• Encouraging research

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The Pressures

• Societal pressures
• Animal rights activist pressures
• Legislated animal welfare in EU
• Economics

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Societal Concern for Farm Animals
Societal Trends
Smoking Tobacco
Smoking Marijuana
Buying the Biggest Car You can Afford
PROHIBITED
Driving Drunk
Pre-Marital Sex/Cohabitation
Eating/Raising Animals For Food
Preference Value
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Societal Concern for Farm Animals

• Today in Canada
• Canadian common values
• Animals are meant to serve the interests of
  people,
• Meat is a key element in the human diet, and
• The practice of farming to generate food for
  human consumption is a valuable contribution to
  society.

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Societal Concern for Farm Animals

• Research Says
• Canadian Consumer Attitudes towards Pork
  Production
• Difference between small and large farms
• Profit more important
• Modern farms factories
• As the treatment of animals is primarily of
  concern to activist groups, it is unlikely that a
  public relations effort in this area will yield
  substantial gains.

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Societal Concern for Farm Animals

• Research Says
• Attitude of Consumers towards Welfare of Farmed
  Animals EU June 05
• Very distinct realities within EU.
• The conditions of laying hens is being judged to
  be poorer compared to pigs dairy cows.
• 75 in the EU believe in their capacity to
  influence welfare of farmed animals by their
  purchasing behavior.

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Societal Concern for Farm Animals

• Whole Foods Animal Compassion Fdn.
• By creating the Foundation, Whole Foods Market is
  pioneering an entirely new way for people to
  relate to farm animals with the animals
  welfare becoming the most important goal.
• John Mackey, Whole Foods Market CEO, chairman
  and co-founder

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Societal Concern for Farm Animals
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Animal Activists Pressures
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Animal Activists Pressures

• Social-Cause Action Group
• A group committed to a cause based on moral
  conviction

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Animal Activists Pressures

• Must be simple to understand
• Must be inherently evil
• The average Joe must think he is an expert
• Must be a shred of truth
• Moral outrage is the Product

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SCAG Politics
Manufacture an Issue
Make A New Issue

Create a Panacea/Solution
Develop a Slogan


Make Someone Responsible
Manufacture Public Debate
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Animal Activists Pressures
Multiple Justification Ethical Vegetarians
Environmental Concerns
Anti Meat Focus
Animal Welfare
Body Image
Health
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Animal Activists Pressures
Friday, November 22, 2002 The great tragedy of
the animal rights movement is that, hiding
beneath the groups extreme rhetoric, is a valid
point The treatment of animals on factory farms
is appalling.
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Animal Activists Pressures

• IMPACT
• Undercover agents ?
• Growing frustration with legislative channels
• Labelling (cages, stalls)
• AR Not the consumer!
• To inflict economic damage to those who profit
  from the misery and exploitation of animals (ALF
  2004)

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Other Pressures

• Legislative Directives
• EU
• USA (65 bills presented to Congress)
• Farmers ability to Earn a Living
• We cant welfare ourselves out of business
• Low cost is the law
• Under what conditions can you raise animals,
  maximize production, without compromising welfare.

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The Challenges

• Immediate and Future
• Poor management
• Old habits
• Acknowledging the Science
• Transportation
• Due Diligence

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The Challenges

• Poor Management Practices
• Selling / shipping unfit pigs
• Inadequate feed water
• Reluctance to euthanize lame ill

Kill It
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The Challenges

• Barriers to Euthanasia
• Faint hope
• Personal repugnance (shirking)
• Ignorance of situation
• Lack of empowerment
• Deficit of equipment or training
• Lots on How to ?
• Problem when, why, who

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The Challenges

• Acknowledge the Science
• Throughout the 90s, research in the area of
  animal handling, stunning and stress shed new
  light on ways to improve conditions for animals.
  
• American Meat Institute

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The Challenges

• Acknowledge the Science
• Common farming practices cause animals acute
  and chronic pain. This is not due to a lack of
  awareness on the part of the farmers. Using pain
  control methods is not easy or user-friendly and
  is often costly. - Dr. Joe Stookey

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The Challenges
Pain Relief for Farm Animals

• Ethically we are bound to attempt to relieve any
  significant pain and distress we cause.
• Cost benefit analysis needed
• Is it necessary?
• What harms are caused?
• Do the benefits outweigh harms?

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The Challenges

• Acknowledge the Science
• Castration
• Handling
• Housing
• Tail biting
• Prod use
• Branding
• Dehorning

Pain or distress caused by generally accepted
practices in animal agriculture excluded under
Canadian legislation. This exemption protects
producers when conducting necessary procedures.
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The Challenges
Fear of people and surroundings Fear memory
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The Challenges
Animals learn to associate the type of handling
received with the people that handle them (and
the places where it happens)
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The Challenges
The use of aversive handling on a farm is
correlated with cows fearfulness, low milk yield
and poor conception rates
Similar work done for pigs
Hemsworth, PH. Journal of Animal Science.2000.
782821
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The ChallengesHandling Losses

• Dark Cutters elevated stress deplete glycogen
• PSE elevated stress rapid decline in meat ph
• Mixing with strange cattle / pigs genetics
• Rough handling prod use
• Rapid temperature fluctuations
• Bruising real losses
• Bad handling, forceful restraint
• Bad equipment
• Meat Quality, DOA, DIP Losses 2.44/head

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The ChallengesWhat is Animal Welfare?

• Animal welfare is a human responsibility that
  encompasses all aspects of animal well-being

• including proper housing, management,
  nutrition, disease prevention, responsible
  care, humane handling, and, where necessary,
  humane euthanasia. - CVMA

What about ability to perform natural behaviour?
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Which type of housing system is best for animal
welfare?
The Challenges
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Producers Speaking Out
Animal welfare practices are only as good as the
people using them. Its stockmanship and
husbandry that determine the level of animal
welfare NO MATTER WHAT SYSTEM is used. I dont
want legislation to decide which system is
best. - Simon Goodwin, Calmar, AB.
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The ChallengesLivestock Transportation
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The ChallengesHorses

• Incidents of neglect
• Closure of US horse meat plants
• Transport conditions

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The Action Improved Animal Care

• Laws in Place
• Animal Protection Act
• Now includes duties of a responsible owner
• Enforced in Alberta
• Alberta SPCA
• Meat Inspectors
• CFIA
• RCMP
• Alberta SPCA Contract
• Consistent, fair, responsive

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The Action Improved Animal Care
A help line for producers. Total Cases 92, plus
220 info calls 48 farm visits by AFAC vet -
Careless management - Emotional burn out
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The Action Improved Animal Care

• Humane Handling Guidelines
• What is Acceptable What is Not
• Industry - Driven Change
• Improve Animal Welfare
• Fix what needs fixing

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AFAC Action Improved Animal Care

• Training Benchmarking
• Livestock Emergency Response Course

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The Action Good Livestock Handling Pays

• Benefits of Good Handling
• Calm animals
• Reduced injuries
• Better meat quality
• Better immunity
• Reduced facility wear tear

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The Action Improved Animal Care
Dr. Temple Grandin Abattoir Audits
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The Action Improved Cattle Care
Grandin DVDs Body Condition Scoring CD
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The Action Improved Animal Care
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AFAC Action Improved Animal Care

• Certified Livestock Transporter Training
• We did our homework
• Listened to truckers and did 2 major transport
  reports
• Part of quality continuum
• Public nature of hauling livestock
• Pressure for proof of competency
• www.livestocktransport.ca

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The Action Reaching out to the Public
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The Action Reaching out to the Public
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The Action Reaching out to the Public

• Tricky Business. We are fixing things, yet
  difficult to explain.
• Spent hens
• Unfit livestock
• Alternative Housing
• Pain Mgt.
• Assessment tools

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The Action Research

• Key Areas
• Husbandry
• Livestock health
• Livestock housing
• Pain management
• Measuring chronic stress

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The Action Industry Leadership
Dont fear the animal welfare issue. Use it to
your advantage. Take credit. Dont circle the
wagons and defend poor practices.Acknowledge
problems. Take action! - Dr. Ed Pajor,
Purdue University
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AFAC Action Industry Leadership

• Animal Well Being
• Animal health safety
• Food safety
• Worker safety
• Meat quality
• Satisfied customers
• Reasonable return

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Why is AFAC Successful?

• AFAC fosters a positive animal care attitude
• Industry is open to fix problems address
  issues.
• We build on the successes of our member groups.
• Promote continuous improvement search for
• ways to humanely raise animals, maximize
  production, without compromising welfare.

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Industry Cooperation to Advance Animal Care