Dairy assessment program will address animal care and handling

by SUSAN MANN

The dairy industry is developing an on-farm animal care assessment program based on its national guidelines for farm animal care and handling called the Code of Practice.

Therese Beaulieu, spokesperson for Dairy Farmers of Canada, says no decisions have been made yet on whether the program will be voluntary or mandatory for farmers or how it will be delivered.

As part of developing the assessment program, the National Farm Animal Care Council’s draft animal care assessment model will be tested. The model was designed to measure animal welfare in the production system. The council provides a national, coordinated approach to promoting responsible farm animal care.

Determining what to assess and what assessment measures to use will be among the first things the industry decides, Beaulieu says. Input for the assessment program is coming from farmers, processors, animal welfare advocates, researchers, extension specialists, veterinarians, plus the retail and foodservices sector.

“All the questions are on the table,” Beaulieu says. BF