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There was a time when the family farm was the predominant supplier of meat and dairy products across Canada and around the world. Times have changed, however, and the family farm has been replaced by intensive, mechanized farming practices.
With it, the treatment of animals has changed – and not for the better. Where chickens once roamed free in the barnyard, most are now cooped up in battery cages with so little space they can’t flap their wings.
Calves are penned in veal crates and sows give birth in farrowing crates that can barely hold them with their piglets. Instead of rooting in the mud they bite the bars of their cages and rarely see the light of day.
With few government regulations around the world to ensure minimum care for farm animals, humane societies and animal welfare groups have taken the initiative to change less-than-ideal treatment of animals. They have been introducing animal welfare certification and labelling programs that go beyond generally accepted farm animal care practices.
It began in Britain in 1994 with the Royal SPCA’s Freedom Foods program, which was quickly adapted by the BC SPCA to create Canada’s first government approved SPCA Certified labelling program in 2002. The Winnipeg Humane Society introduced its own “Winnipeg Humane Society Certified” program also in 2002, based on organic standards.
Animal welfare certification is a method of assuring consumers that the animals raised for meat, dairy and egg products meet farm animal welfare standards developed by SPCAs and humane societies.
The relative SPCA or humane society develops standards and farmers voluntarily apply to be certified. Inspections are carried out to verify animal welfare practices on the farm. Once the farms are a part of the program, they are entitled to use a logo identifying them as certified participants so they and their products can be recognized as animal welfare certified.
A SPCA or humane society label assures that animals have been raised according to the respective group’s farm animal welfare standards. The standards vary within each program and country; however, common themes of each program include: the prohibition of pharmaceuticals to promote growth or production; no batter cages, tie stalls or gestation stalls; and freedom to express behaviours that promote the animals’ well-being (e.g. nest building and foraging).
The programs provide consumers with the option of purchasing meat and dairy products from these farms with the assurance of specific farm animal welfare practices, and the knowledge of the standards under which the food was produced.
