Project Report
| Jun 22, 2012
Farm Animal code updates
By David Dern | Fund Development Manager
As the CFHS is pushing for more humane standards of care on Canadian farms, it might help you the Five Freedoms.
We use the Five Freedoms to guide and determine animal welfare. The Five Freedoms describe conditions that must be fulfilled in order to prevent the suffering of domesticated animals in human care.This is a concept that was originally developed in 1965 by the UK Government based on the "Brambell" report and is specifically designed to guide how animals under human control should be treated.
The five freedoms are:
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
3. Freedom from distress
4. Freedom from discomfort
5. Freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being
These five freedom concepts are what drives the CFHS when we negotiating on behalf of Canadian farm animals.
Mar 27, 2012
Farm Animal code updates--March 2012
By David Dern | Fund Development Manager
As the only national animal welfare organization represented on the National Farm Animal Care Council, the CFHS is tasked with the responsibility of advocating for the welfare of over 700 million farm animals across Canada.
One of the key farm animal codes currently being negotiated is the pork code. This code will determine a farmer’s responsibility to the welfare of his/her animals, including the amount of enrichment time that is needed and laying out a timeline to phase out the use of gestation stalls.
As we are influencing the process from one end, it is great to see retailers and major food services companies pushing for animal welfare reform from the other end. Recently, McDonalds and the Compass Group have made public their plans to only purchase humanely raised pork products.
More information on the Compass Group decision can be found here: http://www.mfablog.org/2012/03/worlds-largest-foodservice-company-announces-plan-to-cut-gestation-crates.html
More information on McDonalds can be found here: http://www.mfablog.org/2012/02/mcdonalds-announces-plans-to-phase-out-cruel-gestation-crates.html
Dec 22, 2011
Farm Animal Codes--Update December 2011
By David Dern | Fund Development Manager
The group of industry codes currently being revised by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) include:
- Pigs: scientific reports on industry best practices and research have been submitted to the code committee for review and negotiation.
- Beef: scientific reports on industry best practices and research have been submitted to the code committee for review and negotiation.
- Horses: scientific reports on industry best practices and research have been submitted to the code committee for review and negotiation. In addition the horse owner community is being surveyed to determine their top concerns with respect to humane practices specific to horse care.
- Mink and Fox: scientific reports on industry best practices and research have been submitted to the code committee for review and negotiation.
- Sheep: this specific code was started later than the others and is approximately 25% completed.
In addition to the current group of codes, the poultry industry has approached the NFACC to start the code process for meat poultry (broilers and turkey), laying hens and egg producers. This group of codes should start in 2012/2013.
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