A University of Alberta student wants to talk to beef and dairy producers about animal welfare.
Emilie Bassi is working on her master’s degree in rural and environmental sociology and became intrigued with people’s perceptions about animal welfare following the recent controversy surrounding the Earls Kitchen and Bar chain.
Earlier this year, Earls announced plans to source its beef from a firm in the United States that had product with a certified humane label.
The move raised the ire of Canadian beef producers and Earls later backtracked on its plan.
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Bassi said that incident doesn’t define her research, but provides context. Now she wants to explore producer perceptions of animal welfare in beef and dairy production.
“I feel like this topic is important because understanding the social practices of farm animal welfare, whether it helps expand knowledge or whether it improves animal husbandry practices, can contribute to the long-term sustainability and improvement of the livestock production sector, the cattle production sector,” said Bassi.
She has already interviewed six Alberta producers and is seeking more in that province.
Her plan is to visit them on their ranches or farms and learn how they approach animal welfare.
“I’m really looking for producers to speak with. I’m basically learning from them, from their experiences, because I have grown up in an urban setting, like a lot of consumers, so I’m just trying to help fill that gap.”
The interviews take one to two hours, said Bassi, and rancher-volunteers have been co-operative.
“They’re working with animals and I think they are just interested and invested in this topic,” she said.
Her questions are aimed at learning producers’ perceptions and practices involving animal care and welfare and where they learn the skills and techniques used.
Bassi plans to conduct her research until December and then analyze the data and write her thesis. If all goes well, she expects to present her findings next fall.
Bassi can be reached at ebassi@ualberta.ca or by phoning 403-852-7801.
