Humane Treatment of Farmed Animals

New national Codes of Practice for the welfare of horses, pigs, cattle and sheep are now entering the final stages of negotiation and public comment periods will be held in fall of 2012 and early 2013, providing an opportunity to the public to express their expectations for Canada to meet higher standards.

The process of developing an implementing Codes of Practice is a long and complicated one.  It's important to note that once these codes are finished being revised, it will be at least five years before they’re revisited. We need to pour significant resources into our work to improve them right now. Every dollar contributed TODAY by caring Canadians like you puts us in a better position to secure a humane life for farm animals.   

If you are interested in being involved in the process of submitting concerns/expectations, please let me know at: davidd@cfhs.ca.

Convened by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), the Codes set out minimum requirements for treatment of all farm animals in Canada and serve as reference documents for animal cruelty law. The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies serves as the voice of the Canadian humane movement at the table.

As the CFHS is pushing for more humane standards of care on Canadian farms, it might help you the Five Freedoms.

We use the Five Freedoms to guide and determine animal welfare. The Five Freedoms describe conditions that must be fulfilled in order to prevent the suffering of domesticated animals in human care.This is a concept that was originally developed in 1965 by the UK Government based on the "Brambell" report and is specifically designed to guide how animals under human control should be treated.

The five freedoms are:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst

2. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease

3. Freedom from distress

4. Freedom from discomfort

5. Freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being

These five freedom concepts are what drives the CFHS when we negotiating on behalf of Canadian farm animals.