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Tag Archives Animal welfare

Letters, Op/Ed

Letters: Invitation to discuss hog production accepted

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I accept Cam Dahl’s invitation to join the conversation about modern agriculture, pig production and public trust. A couple of years ago I visited the Greenfield Maple Leaf hog facility. ML Greenfield takes sows that have been confined almost their entire lives in crates a little bigger than their bodies and “teaches” them how to
News

France bans crushing and gassing of male chicks from 2022

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France will ban from next year the killing of male chicks by crushing or gassing, a practice denounced as barbaric by animal welfare groups, and will push for a similar measure at the European level, the agriculture minister said. Each year, 50 million male chicks are culled in this way, Julien Denormandie said in an
The pork sector was among those applauding the passage of the new legislation.
Livestock, News

Ag leaders pleased on passage of anti-trespassing laws

Strong opposition highlights the need for more conversations around biosecurity and farming practices

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Agriculture leaders say they’re pleased to see two biosecurity and anti-trespassing bills pass into law. Manitoba Pork general manager Cam Dahl thanked the province for “helping producers protect their biosecurity as well as help them protect their workers and their families on the farm.” “These bills go a long ways to helping with those efforts,” he told the
Limiting the amount of time a cow is in headlocks so it can spend time lying or eating has an effect on milk production and cow health.
Livestock, News

Just let cows be cows, say leading behaviour experts

The understanding of cow comfort has grown considerably and now focuses on natural behaviours

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Less time standing on concrete, less time in headlock gates, less stress and more time expressing natural instincts are the modern-day keys to what is an evolving understanding of cow comfort for dairy cattle. “Let them eat without stress, let them rest without stress, and let them calve without stress,” said world-recognized cow behaviour specialist Dr.
Animal care in modern hog production does not stop at codes of practice and regulatory enforcement. There is also verification.
Comment, Op/Ed

Comment: Agriculture, the environment, and animal care

Pork producers have stringent care standards and deserve protection from intruders

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Legislation brought forward by the provincial government has sparked debate about agriculture in Manitoba. The Animal Diseases Amendment Act has drawn comments about environmental impact and animal care. In the past, farmers produced a little of everything. A few animals, a bit of grain, produced with minimal inputs. Some nostalgically view this bygone era as
“...if you own a dog, a companion animal, pets or livestock animals, all those species are protected on the Animal Care Act... ” Dr. Enoch Omololu.
Livestock, News

Animal Care Act governs standards of care

Agriculture students learn of provincial oversight and investigations

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When Dr. Enoch Omololu began to show case studies of animal abuse on Manitoba farms, he assured the University of Manitoba agriculture students he was showing them “middle of the road” cases. “These are not the very worst ones we’ve seen,” the provincial livestock animal welfare veterinarian said. Even so, the images in his presentation
News

EU top court upholds curb on animal slaughter, angering Jewish groups

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The EU’s top court on Dec. 17 upheld a Belgian law requiring animals to be stunned before slaughter, rejecting challenges from Jewish and Muslim groups and opening the way for other countries to bring in similar restrictions. Animals rights activists welcomed the ruling that limited some religious rites, but Israel’s ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg,
In the opinion that led to the settlements, one of the appellate judges who denied Smithfield a retrial, asked a simple question: “How did it come to this?”
Comment, Op/Ed

Comment: Gambling on the future of food, rural communities

As wealth and power concentrate in the ag sector, the outcomes are getting worse

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Three events on consecutive mid-November days show farmers, ranchers, and all citizens where agriculture now is. Event One: On Nov. 18, the Iowa Capital Dispatch, a not-for-profit news website, detailed allegations on how managers at Tyson Food’s hog-killing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, literally gambled on employee lives as the coronavirus took root last April. “In
Video meat inspection moves a step forward
Beef cattle, Livestock

Video meat inspection moves a step forward

Beef 911: Changes to allow video ante-mortem inspection and on-farm slaughter make good sense

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All through the year accidents can happen and the need for emergency slaughter can arise. Broken legs during breeding season, fighting or, very rarely during transport, downer cattle, make access to emergency slaughter imperative. In Alberta, the government recently announced changes that will allow a mobile butcher to take video of the animal, which can
News

Feds closely watching provincial changes to trespassing laws

Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan have tightened laws on either access to private rural land or livestock transport, and Manitoba may well be following suit

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The federal government is not looking at ways to boost trespassing legislation being passed in some provinces, according to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau. Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta have taken steps to bolster protections for livestock and producers against trespassers and activists following high-profile events, and Manitoba is believed to be soon following

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