The moment finally arrived where Canada now has a new Code of Practice for the care and handling of pigs in Canada.
The National Farm Animal Care Council released the update of the Pig Code, a work that began in 2010 and involved a 17 person code committee represented by pig producers, animal welfare and enforcement representatives, researchers, transporters, processors, veterinarians and government representatives aided by a six person Scientific Committee.
Jackie Wepruk, the general manager of the National Farm Animal Care Council, says the consensus based approach to updating Canada’s codes of practice has proved highly successful.
“Animal welfare is a deeply personal and often very emotional issue and everyone has their own perspective that’s based on their values, their experiences, their knowledge and even their culture,” says Wepruk. “The challenge has always been to strike a balance that reflects our scientific understanding of animal welfare and is also practical for farmers to implement and also address societal expectations.”
She thinks this code really marks a significant step that diverse stakeholders took together to constructively address pig welfare. It’s a starting point for continual improvement not only in terms of how the industry addresses pig welfare but how all these different perspectives on animal welfare can work together.
“I think this code really represents an important turning point for pig welfare in Canada and hopefully sets an example for others as they struggle with welfare issues too,” adds Wepruk. “Everyone concerned about pig welfare will need to ask themselves how they can help producers meet or exceed the goals laid out in this code.”
She says everyone shares the responsibility of making this code a success and supporting the producers who are going to have to implement it.
Florian Possberg, the chair of National Farm Animal Care Council’s Pig Code Development Committee says this new code sets Canada apart in terms of how the industry can care for its animals.
In response to the public’s desire for more freedom of movement, under the final revised code all new facilities will need to house sows in groups, the new code outlines pain relief during painful procedures and, recognizing these are intelligent animals, there is more emphasis on enrichment of their environment.
Possberg says the biggest change from the draft update revolves around the conversion of existing facilities to group housing.
“In the draft code we anticipated we would require existing sow confinement systems to convert to a more open system,” he says. “What we found though is the cost of converting existing facilities and quite frankly in some situations the impracticality of converting some existing situations. Not just the cost being prohibitive but the logistics of actually doing it could very well lead to a lower standard of animal welfare for the animals forced into bad systems.”
Possberg says the committee concluded that’s not where they want to be so existing operations can continue to function as long as they do it in a very good manner but the industry will, over time, convert totally to the new system.
“It took some time to complete the process but I believe it sets Canada apart in terms of how we care for our animals and our consumers,” he says. “Our producers and our retailers can all be proud that we in Canada take animal welfare very seriously.” •
— By Harry Siemens