Animal welfare groups want producers to know that welfare isn’t the same as rights.
The distinction is important because welfare groups want to work with farmers rather than against them, says Geoff Urton, animal welfare co-ordinator with the British Columbia SPCA.
“Anything we can do, (we try) to communicate to producers that we’re actually on their side,” Urton said.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to make sure they understand the seriousness of some of the consumer perceptions out there and helping them be proactive in preventing consumer perception problems down the road.”
Read Also
StatCan stands by its model-based crop forecast
Statistics Canada’s model-based production estimates are under scrutiny, but agency says it is confident in the results.
He admitted farmers might be shocked to be told that SPCAs are their allies, partly because farmers and the general public don’t understand the difference between animal rights and animal welfare.
“It’s not easy for Joe Public to pick up on the subtleties,” Urton said.
Radical positions and extreme actions have blurred the line between the two movements, he added.
“So much damage (was) done by certain people in the past, whether they were animal rights or animal welfare, (because) they took too aggressive an approach.”
The distinction between animal rights and animal welfare is clear to Bill MacDonald, executive director of the Winnipeg Humane Society.
Animal rights groups want to generate headlines and public sympathy, while animal welfare organizations work directly with government and industry to change policies.
“There are off the wall groups, like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), who pull what I would call stunts, where they spill blood on people…. I peg that as an activist,” he said. “Whereas the humane society, we are advocates or lobbyists…. We get in the room with the lawmakers.”
While the line is clear to him, MacDonald agreed with Urton that most farmers probably don’t make a distinction between animal advocates and activists.
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies program director Shelagh MacDonald said she has learned firsthand about the public’s misperception of animal welfare organizations.
About a decade ago, MacDonald and other lobbyists initiated a campaign to modernize the section of the criminal code that pertains to cruelty to animals.
MacDonald’s efforts ultimately failed, butshestillrecallsthereactionfromfarm groups when she launched the initiative.
“Frankly, I’ve been here 18 years and I was actually shocked that many of those people and groups thought that we were animal rights,” Mac-Donald said.
The point of creating a new section for animals was to reflect Canadian values by treating cruelty cases as crimes that cause unnecessary suffering to animals, she said.
“We didn’t want the criminal code to be used to prosecute farmers for doing what they are currently doing,” she said.
The proposed changes prompted hostile reactions from producer groups. Following the outrage, Mac-Donald realized her organization had to communicate more effectively with livestock groups.
“We are not a vegetarian promoting organization. We promote the humane treatment of animals.”
