CFHS denounces farm animal care publication
Thursday, January 04, 2007Although identified in this publication, the CFHS… was not involved in the development of a farm industry propaganda brochure, Farm Animals: Who Cares? developed by various provincial farm animal care groups and funded by Canadian taxpayers.
While the CFHS… is working to resolve its concerns regarding the process involved in the development of this publication, we also want to share with the public our concerns regarding some of the information contained in this document. The following identifies some of the inaccuracies in the document.
Laws set minimum standards and are meant for prosecuting problems after they occur. Farmers’ groups have gone much further in helping to develop “Recommended Codes of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farm Animals.”
In fact, there are no laws that set minimum standards for the care of animals on the farm in Canada. The Codes of Practice referred to above do not “go much further” than minimum standards. The use of the Codes is voluntary, except in Manitoba where provincial legislation mandates them as minimum standards.
The Codes of Practice are internationally-recognized as models of responsible animal care and will continue to evolve.
By whom? What industrialized countries look to Canada’s Codes of Practice as exemplary documents? Canada lags behind many of the major industrialized nations in animal care and welfare. Click here to read more about laws governing the care of farm animals in other countries.
The CFHS… is proud to be associated with best practices and, over the last 50 years, has contributed much to improving animal welfare. The Codes of Practice are minimal practices: they are not exemplary practices but rather descriptors of what’s being done – and standard practices in Canada are far behind those of other industrialized countries. The CFHS… is the only animal welfare organization in Canada involved in the development of Codes of Practice documents. We push hard for improvements to farm animal welfare; however, we consider the Codes of Practice to be minimal standards – not best practices, not exemplary documents, and certainly not world-leading. Currently, a mandatory on-farm verification process is not in place to ensure all farms in Canada are following the current Codes of Practice. The CFHS… continues to call for a third-party verification process of Codes of Practice standards throughout the industry, and is working hard to make this a reality.
Statements and claims presented in this document distort and misrepresent the reality of today’s intensive farming practices in Canada and do not reflect the views of the CFHS….
- A section on “The good ole days” for example, dismisses the value of free range farming practices and overlooks all the animal welfare benefits non-intensive systems provide;
- A section that lists the problems associated with free-run and free-range eggs fails to also list their animal welfare benefits;
- A discussion of the conditions of laying hens does not paint a real picture of the battery cages these hens live in and does not mention the extreme deprivation and frustration hens experience in battery cages;
- Similarly, a discussion about sow housing does not mention gestation crates in which individual crates are hardly bigger than the sows themselves. Gestation crates are one of the biggest animal welfare concerns in the farm industry, and have been banned in many countries. Click here for more complete information on gestation crates.
The farming industry in Canada has long argued that opponents of intensive farming practices fail to provide Canadians with the whole story. The CFHS… believes that through this one-sided taxpayer-funded publication, the farming industry is guilty of doing the same. Framing current practices as ‘folksy’ promulgates many of the myths presented in this propaganda piece. The reality is industry is driven largely by economics, maximum productivity and profit concerns. To suggest that current intensive practices are in the best interests of the animals is to deny the reality of current intensive farming practices.
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