ALLEGATIONS of horse mistreatment at a Saskatchewan slaughter plant got national television play recently but not enough has been reported about how an animal rights organization forced KFC outlets in Canada to take a new approach to chicken slaughter. It is part of trend where forces outside agriculture are convincing corporations, the public and politicians to take actions that determine how farmers manage their livestock and conduct business.
This squeezes farmers between these new demands and the long-standing economic pressures that encourage specialized large scale production.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals celebrated when it successfully pressured KFC Canadian franchisees to phase in what it calls a more humane method of slaughter, controlled atmosphere killing where crates that carry chickens are filled with an inert gas that kills the birds.
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KFC Canadian franchisees also agreed to improve animal welfare audits, phase out growth promoting drugs and urge suppliers to adopt better barn lighting and lower stocking densities.
PETA has also helped convince Burger King, Wendy’s and other chains to adopt animal welfare policies.
The group, whose goal is to end meat consumption, in concert with other organizations has been instrumental in getting animal welfare measures on the ballot in American elections.
This November, Californians will vote on an initiative called the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, directed at veal crates, sow gestation crates and battery cages for hens. Arizona and Florida voters approved a phase out of the crates in 2006 and lawmakers in Colorado and Oregon have done the same.
The movement got a boost from the independent and influential U.S.-based Pew Trust, which created a commission on industrial farm animal production.
Its 2½ year study concluded that industrial scale livestock production is not good for animals, human health, the environment or rural economies and “the negative effects of (the) system are too great and scientific evidence is too strong to ignore.”
PETA makes exaggerated and false criticisms about modern livestock practices and plays on people’s tendency to see livestock as pets.
Agriculture must be more aggressive in setting the record straight, showing how large livestock operations can be responsible.
But the demands of food retailers, new anti confinement laws and the Pew Trust report indicate the pendulum of corporate and public opinion is swinging against many aspects of intensive livestock production.
Agriculture’s challenge is to find ways to accommodate the public’s demands for what is perceived to be more humane animal treatment, without hurting profitability.
Farmers and processors can produce food the way consumers want, but consumers must know there is cost to their demands.
