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Animal welfare — act now, or have someone else do it
SUMMER CAMP AT THE FARM
PARTNERS The National Farm Animal Care Council is comprised of members from both animal welfare groups and agriculture BY SHERI MONK AF STAFF | CALGARY
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ivestock producers need to both walk the walk and talk the talk on standards for animal welfare, or have someone else set the agenda for them. That was the message from two speakers at the recent International Livestock Congress here. Dr. Mike Siemens, leader of animal welfare and husbandry for Cargill, emphasized that the industry must be proactive. “We’re very reactive. I know we try to do some programs and put things in place, but we’re afraid of the issue because the issue gets framed for us on a routine basis,” Siemens said. “We’ve got to try to interject facts, and try to counteract lies and mistruths, and that’s a hard thing to do.” Siemens said the Internet has changed the landscape, allowing animal rights groups inexpensive access to the public through social media. “That’s given our critics a huge venue to infiltrate the public persona, to get to them and given them information, be it accurate, or more times inaccurate, or partial truths.” Siemens said the push by rights groups really started to get intense in the mid-1990s, which resulted in individual fast-food chains being protested until welfare concessions were made. Recently, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) came to an agreement with the United Egg Producers to radically change the industry to make it more humane. The agreement came at a time when several states were contemplating legislation regarding cage size, and amid mounting public concern. “They found no other way to resolve that so they struck a deal with HSUS,” said Siemens, adding the other commodity groups were opposed to the precedent set by the direct negotiations between the two groups. Siemens said fallout from leaked videos from slaughterhouses and feedlots is always in response to animal abuse, not to routine protocol. He said the solution is to remove the cause. “We need to identify those in the animal protein supply chain who abuse animals and help them exit gracefully out of the industry,” said Siemens.
Camper Mariah White leads her horse Pioneer to the hitching rail after a day-long ride. For more photos see page 15. PHOTO: RICHARD ERLENDSON
ANIMAL WELFARE page 6
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