The Wildrose Bison Convention live streams its sale, saying the initiative is intended to improve animal welfare
CAMROSE, Alta. — Alberta’s staple bison event continues to evolve, modernizing the sales ring for a growing number of animal entries.
The Wildrose Bison Convention, for the first time, live-streamed its sale March 16 for producers attending in person or online, taking animal welfare into account.
The animals were video-taped ahead of time rather than having to go through a noisy ring, with footage being used to describe them on the big-screen or computer monitor.
“The reduction of stress on them has just been amazing,” said Linda Sautner, office manager of the Bison Producers of Alberta.
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“More people are concerned about animal welfare now, so they love that idea.”
Sautner said bison aren’t considered domesticated, which means many still have a fight-or-flight response when they are handled.
In sales rings, she said, some animals become overstimulated and want to escape.
“Because the loud speakers are on and the auctioneer is going, some are let out quickly because they don’t settle at all. They panic a bit,” she said. “There are others, of course, that simply stand there and look around.”
Attendees still got to view the animals up close where they stood in an enclosed space at the Camrose Regional Exhibition.
“It’s the first time they are indoors,” she said. “They’ve settled beautifully.”
She said she believes live-streaming the sale is partly behind the reason why more producers consigned their animals this year.
The organization consigned 81 animals this year; the largest number they’ve seen so far.
It’s been a while since they held the event in Camrose. It was held in Ponoka, Alta., for the past five years, but they outgrew the space.
“Growing is all well and good, but you don’t want people to trip over the next person when they get up from their tables,” Sautner said.
“Holding it here in Camrose has worked well for us. The staff have bent backwards for us and we have an opportunity to expand here.”
She said she hopes the event continues to grow.
The maximum number of animals they can consign is 100, she said, but they have space for more attendees.
“We want to use this event to encourage more people to get into bison,” she said. “We want more production because consumer demand has been higher than ever.”
