This spring’s decision to dissolve the Manitoba Farm Animal Council silences a credible third party in the promotion and defence of agriculture, says a former executive director.
“We’ve lost an agricultural advocate voice,” said Shanyn Silinski, who farms near La Broquerie and worked at the council for two years.
“It leaves a gap that is going to be filled by voices that sound reasonable, like the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).”
The MFAC board decided to disband the group in May after commodity groups, which have funded the organization, concluded they could do a better job of encouraging and promoting animal welfare practices on their own.
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“The commodity group felt we weren’t getting the bang for our buck,” said Don Winnicky, who represented the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association on the council’s board.
“We were doing our own thing already…. It was brought up more than once at a board meeting (asking) why should we be throwing money into another organization.”
Wendy Friesen, a hog producer from Lowe Farm who represented the Manitoba Pork Council on the MFAC board, agreed.
“We had a lot of good ideas and we were doing some good work, but I guess in this day and age, you really need to be able to prove every penny you spend to the producers when you’re spending their money.”
Friesen, who said MFAC existed for about a decade, lamented its loss.
“I think there is strength in having multi-commodities coming together and sharing their concerns,” she said.
Added Winnicky: “The media or the government, who do they turn to now to get some kind of answers?”
Silinski said losing a unified voice to represent livestock agriculture couldn’t come at a worse time because animal rights groups such as the HSUS have targeted Manitoba as a jurisdiction to lobby for stringent animal welfare legislation.
“They’re already working with the Winnipeg Humane Society. Now there’s no farm animal council,” she said. “They’re going to have an open door to wreak all kinds of havoc.”
She said the weakness of relying on producer groups to handle their own animal welfare agenda is that the public usually doesn’t accept a message if it comes directly from industry. Information is more believable if it comes from a credible third party, she added.
“To have that step away, where you have a united voice from all of the commodities working together … has a lot more impact than the cattle producers saying that the cattle producers are doing a good job.”
Many commodity groups in Manitoba don’t take animal welfare seriously, she added, which compounds the problem. They assume that activists and the media that report on such issues will eventually lose interest and go away.
While Silinski said it’s pointless to engage “foaming at the mouth vegans” in a rational discussion about animal welfare practices, she noted that many commodity groups fail to connect with anyone who isn’t already a firm supporter of animal agriculture.
“They’re only reaching the audiences that they’re comfortable talking to, that they know they’re not going to have any controversial problems with.”
Friesen said she remains hopeful that the council may be revived.
“I don’t know that it will be the same structure, but I know there is a need and a willingness.”
Farm animal council facts:
•With the dissolution of the Manitoba Farm Animal Council, three provinces now have similar organizations: the Ontario Farm Animal Council, the Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan and Alberta Farm Animal Care. There is also the National Farm Animal Care Council, based in Lacombe, Alta.
•Although the groups differ slightly, their mandates are similar: to promote responsible care of livestock and disseminate accurate information about animal welfare practices.
•As non-governmental organizations, the councils’ budgets are based on contributions from livestock associations and the industry. However, they receive grants from government for specific projects and programs.
