New Initiative Puts Farm Animal Welfare on the Agenda
CANADA - Farm-Scape: Episode 2177. Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.
27 June 2006
3 minute read
Farm-Scape, Episode 2177
Canada's national and provincial farm animal care councils are joining forces to deliver a three year 700 thousand dollar project designed to put farm animal welfare on the agenda.
A new national initiative, being coordinated by the Ontario Farm Animal Council, its sister groups in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and the new National Farm Animal Care Council has been launched in an effort to improve the lines of communication among the scientists who conduct animal welfare research, the farmers, ranchers and veterinarians who use that information and the public.
Ontario Farm Animal Council Executive Director Crystal Mackay explains, by working together and pooling resources and expertise, the groups will be able to take the farm animal welfare message to broader audiences.
"There are three parts to the project.
The first is the speakers bureau and the thinking behind sponsoring the speakers bureau is we want to take animal welfare related speakers and get the onto the agendas of existing meetings, to take them to places where people don't usually talk about animal welfare.
The second component is a communications angle, that we feel there's some great research being done for example on animal welfare research but the producers and the veterinarians just aren't getting to hear about the results so we'll be putting newsletters together, articles in trade magazines, radio advertisements and editorials and promotion of a livestockwelfare.com web site.
The final and third component is farm animal actual handling and training workshops and those will be interactive workshops targeting your such as 4 H or agricultural college students and livestock transporters."
Mackay notes the project received funding approval this past spring and the deliverables will be rolled out over the next three years.
She adds the livestockwelfare.com web site is up and running, the first issue of the "Insights" newsletter is now being printed and some public education displays and brochures will be ready for public events this fall.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.
