Taking Pride in Animal Care
Whether it’s helping a cow give birth to a calf in the middle of the night or checking on chickens before opening Christmas presents, caring for animals has been at the core of what farmers have done every day for generations. All animals have basic needs, like food and water, health, and quality of life. Livestock depend on farmers and ranchers for everything, and farmers take this responsibility seriously.
Each and every farmer and rancher takes great pride in caring for the land they manage and the animals they raise. In the case of animals that are raised for food, a healthy, well-cared-for animal produces high quality food. It’s as simple as that.
Farmers also rely on a variety of technical people to help them with animal care and are continually sharing new technologies and management techniques to ensure their animals are healthy. Some of these professionals include veterinarians, agrologists specializing in animal care, government extension workers, scientists and animal nutritionists.
Animal Welfare & Food Safety Programs
Many of Canada’s livestock sectors have established on-farm animal care assessment programs based on the Codes. It varies among industries, but farms can be assessed on their animal care standards and protocols as a self-audit by the farmer themselves, by trained auditors, or by third party company auditors. The concept of auditing and assessments is to manage what is measured and to provide verification that a farm is following best practices in order to continually improve and identify any problems quickly.
Examples include:
- Canadian National Goat Federation
- Canadian Pork Producers Animal Care
- Canadian Sheep Federation Verified Sheep Program
- Chicken Farmers of Canada Animal Care Program
- Dairy Farmers of Canada proAction®
- Egg Farmers of Canada National Animal Care Program
- Turkey Farmers of Canada Flock Care Program®
- Verified Beef Production Plus