Livestock producers who are tempted to complain about the upcoming Code of Practice should think about what the document would look like if enemies of the industry wrote it.
“The (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) was contacted by (animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and PETA offered to re-do all the codes of practice for all the (livestock) groups in Canada,” Canadian Sheep Federation executive director Jennifer McTavish told the Manitoba Sheep Association’s annual meeting.
“There’s a tendency … to begrudge the government for these programs, but when you start watching the media, when you start watching (grocery chain operator) Galen Weston TV commercials, you realize that a lot of these are often issues that are also pushed by our consumer.”
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McTavish said the code was put together by informed industry people and acknowledged experts who support the existence of livestock industries, so farmers should realize its recommendations are based on reasonable assumptions about what is proper and possible on a real sheep farm.
All of Canada’s major livestock industries are having their codes of practice updated to reflect modern production realities and current sensitivities about animal welfare.
The codes will first be circulated among affected industries and other interested parties and then amended and approved. They will not be mandatory. Instead, they will be presented as an accepted standard of operating that has farmer support.
