Humane Treatment of Farmed Animals

Project Report | Jun 3, 2022
Dairy Code Receives Most Comments In NFACC History

By Melissa Devlin | Donor Engagement and Development Coordinator

Hi there,

Thank you for your continued support and interest in Farmed Animal Welfare. We are happy to share with you the most recent developments in the work to improve the lives of farmed animals in Canada.

We can report that the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) draft Dairy Code has recently received its most comments ever in NFACC’s history.

Almost 6000 individual responses were received plus 50 organizational responses. The majority of respondents were from Quebec and 40% of respondents identified as dairy farmers, 31% identified as concerned citizens or animal welfare advocates, and 27% identified as consumers.

Canada’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle revisions for public consultation included the following key issues of concern:

The need for emergency preparedness, given the devastating impact of recent floods on farms in BC and the importance of learning lessons for future disasters.
The importance of the social needs of calves to house them in pairs or small groups, without delay, in a manner that reflects welfare science best.
That all cows should be loose housed and provided with regular access to exercise yards or pasture year-round.
The need for more guidance to ensure cattle who are at risk of suffering during transportation are not loaded.

The topic of housing for cows and calves received the most comments.

Could Canada be the next country to require mandatory video surveillance in slaughterhouses? France, Spain, Israel, England, Wales, and Scotland all require mandatory video surveillance in their slaughterhouses.

Many Canadians wish to be better informed about the living conditions of animals raised for food. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has recognized that video surveillance could be a good complement to the on-site surveillance by its agents in federal institutions.

To support law enforcement and to ensure transparency, our member societies the Montreal SPCA and Vancouver Humane Society, along with other organizations ask that the government of Canada make video surveillance systems mandatory in all slaughterhouses under federal jurisdiction. Deputy Nathaniel Erskine-Smith has tabled this in the House of Commons.

A new rodeo is being proposed in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Not only are many Canadians opposed to rodeos, but so are most animal welfare organizations. As Canada’s Federation of SPCAs and Humane Societies, Humane Canada® is opposed in principle to rodeo and is working towards the ultimate abolition of this activity. Rodeo is banned in the U.K, Holland, and several other U.S and European jurisdictions. It is opposed by the American SPCA, the Royal New Zealand SPCA, and the Australian SPCA.

According to our associate Vancouver Humane Society, many rodeo events put animals at unnecessary risk of injuries, such as broken bones, neck injury or internal damage, which can lead to euthanasia. They add that animals used in many rodeo events experience fear, stress, discomfort, and pain when chased, roped, and wrestled.

On to rodeo in another province, on May 20th, 2022, Droit Animalier Québec, an organization dedicated to the advancement of animal rights in Quebec, filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the St-Tite Western Festival. The goal is to obtain a permanent injunction to prohibit the lassoing and tie-down roping of calves (baby cows) as well as the pinning and wrestling of steers to the ground (adolescent cows).

We will continue to keep you updated on Farmed Animal Welfare in Canada and we thank you for your generous support of this work.

Links:

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Feb 7, 2022
Hope for improvements in Farmed Animal Welfare

By Toolika Rastogi | Senior Manager, Policy and Research

Hello,

We are pleased to share an update with you on what we are working on here at Humane Canada to support the Humane Treatment of Farmed Animals.

This past December in a new mandate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to ban the practice of live horse exports for slaughter, in addition to other climate and agriculture requests. Trudeau has overwhelmingly heard from Canadians on this issue and the inclusion to stop the export of live horses for slaughter, as well as seeing animal welfare in political platforms in the last election, is a tell-tale sign that politicians are listening to Canadians on these issues.

Earlier this year, we asked Canadians who care about the protection of farmed animals to sign a petition to the federal Minister of Agriculture, that any further delay to the full enforcement of transportation regulations is not acceptable. Transport of farmed animals is one of the few areas of federal oversight for animal welfare.

More than 800 million animals are farmed in Canada for food every year. Transportation, most often from farm to slaughterhouse, is the most stressful time in their short lives. In February 2020, Canada implemented long-overdue updates to the Health of Animals Regulations for Transport of Animals. However, the government indicated there would be a two-year delay to full enforcement. The compliance promotion period is ending this month on February 20, 2022 and we are happy to report that the government is not going to further delay.

Another area of concern, the treatment of Dairy Cattle, is being considered at this time. Canada’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle is being revised and recently underwent a public consultation. Humane Canada highlighted many issues, including the following key concerns:

The need for emergency preparedness, given the devastating impact of recent floods on farms in BC and the importance of learning lessons for future disasters.
The importance of the social needs of calves to house them in pairs or small groups, without delay, in a manner that reflects welfare science best.
That all cows should be loose housed and provided with regular access to exercise yards or pasture year-round.
The need for more guidance to ensure cattle who are at risk of suffering during transportation are not loaded.

Humane Canada will continue to advocate for strong enforcement approaches and more humane treatment of animals on the farm and during transport.

In late 2021, Canada released its first Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Salmonids. This is an important first step to safeguard the welfare of fish in aquaculture.

It is encouraging to know that Canada is working toward better requirements for the humane treatment of farmed animals. These changes can be slow and steady, but we are seeing improvements happening. As always, we advocate for positive progressive change in animal agriculture in Canada, including improved animal welfare practices, stronger oversight and increased transparency and accountability.

Thank you for your continued support on these important issues.

Links:

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Oct 7, 2021
Codes of Practice for the Care & Handling of Farmed Animals

By Barbara Cartwright | CEO

Hello,

First, thank you for your ongoing support to Humane Canada. We are happy to share an update with you on the Humane Treatment of Farm Animals.

With the call of the 2021 federal election and the dissolution of parliament, we were pleased with the demise of Private Member’s Bill C-205, a proposed federal ag-gag bill, as is normal parliamentary procedure when an election takes place. We will continue to keep watch for the introduction of other ag-gag bills in the new parliament. As always, we advocate for positive progressive change in animal agriculture in Canada, including improved animal welfare practices, stronger oversight and increased transparency and accountability.

Since the last update, we have been continuing work to strengthen the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC)’s Codes of Practice for the Care and Handling of farmed animals. These documents outline practices applied in farming across Canada, and must continue to move the bar forward on animal welfare.

Humane Canada has been actively contributing to the draft Code of Practice for Dairy Cattle, which we expect to be released for public comment soon. Of particular interest are the proposals for housing calves and cows. Providing housing that meets the physical, behavioral and social needs of animals is extremely important for their welfare, so this will be a critical area for the public review.

The publication of a final Code of Practice for Farmed Salmonids is expected this fall. Public comments received on the draft Code of Practice for Goats are currently being considered in order to finalize that document. Much work is taking place to develop a draft Code for Transportation of Livestock and Poultry, which is large and complex, as it addresses transportation of all major farmed species in Canada.

Finally, as we approach the end of 2021, we will be paying close attention to announcements from the Government of Canada regarding implementation, compliance, and enforcement of federal transportation regulations. New requirements for permitted intervals for animals to be without food, water and rest were to come into force in February 2020. However, the federal government decided to implement a two-year delay in enforcing these requirements.

Transportation, most often to slaughter, is the most stressful period in a farmed animal’s life and can often result in physical injury. We are concerned that many animals are being transported longer than the current regulations require. We will be calling on the federal government to ensure the two-year reprieve they have given industry will end and be replaced with proactive and effective enforcement of the new regulated times.

As always, we are so grateful for your generous support and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on the important work to improve Codes of Practice for Farmed Animals.

Links:

Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals

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