More Communication Among Producers Helps Answer Consumer Questions

CANADA - The chair of the Provincial Animal Care Committee says, by sharing information on the latest trends in animal welfare, livestock producers will be better positioned to answer the public's questions about how farm animals are cared for, writes Bruce Cochrane.
calendar icon 20 May 2013
clock icon 3 minute read

The Provincial Animal Care Committee will host its first meeting of 2013 May 23 in Winnipeg.

The committee is made up livestock industry stakeholders who have come together to talk about animal welfare issues, update activities undertaken by different groups and share proactive initiatives that help foster a positive image of livestock producers and how livestock are raised.

Brenda Bazylewski, the director of public relations and communications with Manitoba Egg Farmers and the chair of the Provincial Animal Care Committee, says for the most part the public simply wants to be assured that they can count on farmers to do the right thing.

Brenda Bazylewski-Provincial Animal Care Committee:

I think that each one of us recognizes the importance of raising the animals and maintaining the welfare and well being of the animals in our care but we certainly realize that there are a lot of commonalities, transportation issues and hauling and so on that we have common parallels with each other and we can share and learn from each other.

So it's about creating a forum where we can come and talk about emerging trends in animal welfare and we can develop sub-committees if we need to and then further look in to do research into transportation and so on.

We recognize that it's an important issue, looking after our animals.

We recognize too that there is a lot of overlap and commonalities that we can learn and share from each other and different groups are doing some wonderful initiatives.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada have their Grazing in the Field promotion that they do once a year and certainly learning from each other has been valuable and will continue to be valuable as well.

Ms Bazylewski says the public is curious about where their food comes from and livestock producers want to align with the public's values.

She says people don't want a lot of detail, they want to know that farmers are moving in a direction that's progressive and are doing the right things by their animals.

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