The battle of the polls over gestation stalls

Monday, August 5, 2013

In May, an Environics poll found that 84 per cent of Canadians favoured a nationwide ban on the use of gestation stalls for breeding pigs and the Humane Society International/Canada renewed calls for federal and provincial governments and the industry to support a nation-wide ban.

Not so fast, says HumaneWatch.org in a late June press release. A poll it conducted "reveals animal liberation groups' calls for banning individual maternity pen (its term for dry sow stall) housing on pork farms are not backed by Canadian consumers."

HumaneWatch.org, self-described as a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom, based in the United States, says that when provided the information that dry sow stalls are a humane option approved by veterinarians, 63 per cent of the public supports using individual pens.

According to the press release, "Canadian farmers shouldn't roll over for the radical PETA types at Humane Society International who have deceptively manufactured public opinion on individual maternity pens, said Will Coggin, CCFs senior research analyst."

The Center for Consumer Freedom says the polling firm ORC International conducted the telephone poll of more than 1,000 Canadian adults between June 6 and 11. BP