Green Groups Demand Stronger Moratorium
CANADA - Manitoba's provincial government move to halt any further development of the hog sector in most of the east doesn't go far enough, according to environmentalists.Representatives of groups including HogWatch Manitoba and Beyond Factory Farming have now called for the provincial government to extend the moratorium provincewide. They believe the industry is damaging and cruel, says a report in Canadian Cattlemen .
The province's decision followed the release Monday of the provincial Clean Environment Commission's report on the environmental sustainability of Manitoba's hog industry.
The decision by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers had immediately come under fire at an opposite angle from the Manitoba Pork Council, which noted the CEC report does not specifically recommend the new moratorium which now covers southeastern Manitoba, much of the Red River's nearby watershed and the Interlake region.
The province since 2006 had imposed a temporary provincewide moratorium on new hog barns and expansions of existing operations. That "pause," as the province called it, was lifted Feb. 29.
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