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Animal health and disease control were the immediate issues when Avian flu and BSE emerged in the livestock industry but animal welfare has also become a growing concern as a result of these outbreaks. Animal health, food safety, and animal welfare are closely linked, and several practices that previously went unnoticed caused public concern when they were raised as a result of growing interest in food safety and public health issues relating to livestock.
BSE and animal welfare
When BSE was discovered, it raised two significant animal welfare issues. In Europe, people were shocked to learn that rendered animal parts were fed to livestock and that this was likely the cause of BSE in cattle. Although the process in itself is not inhumane, concerns were raised regarding livestock feed and the minimal diets provided for animals.
Livestock feed has become a growing issue of public concern and countries around the world have since implemented regulations for the rendering process, as well as minimum requirements for animal feed, to ensure optimum health and welfare. Cattle are not naturally carnivores so a diet of mainly rendered animal parts is not ideal.
In addition to this, the cow that originally sparked the BSE crisis in Canada also raised the issue of downers. Downers are animals that are so diseased or injured they cannot walk, and, as of February 2005, they may not be transported, except when required for veterinary treatment. Prior to 2006, downed animals were being dragged onto trucks to send to slaughter, obviously causing horrific suffering to the animals. The Canadian cow with BSE, which did not enter the food chain, was a downer and in its state should not have been transported to the slaughterhouse.
The CFHS is pleased that the Health of Animals regulations have been changed to prohibit the transport of downed animals.
Avian flu and animal welfare
One of the biggest issues with Avian flu is humane slaughter. Billions of birds have been killed around the world to combat the virus because of the severity of the disease, and are often slaughtered with little or no regard for their welfare.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) made animal welfare a priority in its 2001-2005 Strategic Plan and has established principles that should be followed when animals or birds must be killed for disease control. They require that birds be without pain or suffering before or during slaughter, that they undergo immediate death or unconsciousness lasting to death. Those in charge of the slaughter should be properly trained and the process should be carried out under the supervision of a certified veterinarian.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Advisory Committee on Avian flu, of which CFHS is a member, has also discussed this issue. One major concern being addressed by the Advisory Committee is protecting human health, particularly of those working with the birds, who could easily contract the airborne disease. The Committee is also concerned with promoting humane slaughter and the disposal of the birds to ensure they will not cause further health and welfare problems, but little progress has yet been made in this regard.
