Group uses egg farm video to challenge welfare code update

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Comments

Thanks to cell-phone cameras and other instant recording devices, the ability of farmers to hide behind the shield of "normal farm practices" is over.

In the same way that on-line viewers can now see a policeman shooting a person through the windshield of his car, animal abuse and even human rights abuses can also be "on-line" for anyone to see, and it is.

Farmers have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide - the employee or contract worker who pretends to speak only Spanish could easily be a University student working undercover for an animal rights or human rights organization and filming every objectionable thing he/she sees. One of my daughter's best friends from undergraduate days did just exactly that for years and may still be doing it.

Farmers have long hidden behind the shield of "we love our animals" and/or "we love our off-shore workers" and videos showing the exact opposite leave us defenseless, and so it should.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

Do you honestly think that farmers are just out to hurt their animals. Looks like people with a lack of common sense are now the prevalent voice for society. Weather it's Donald Trump saying rediculous things that come to his mind or Mercy for Animals making us believe that farmers are a coalition of people out to hurt their own animals. Think, honestly, about all the things that happen in your own work places and in your own lives, look closely, there are many things that can be easily construed as wrong, senseless, and misguided. Unfortunately that is what we humans do. But listen to groups like mercy for animals and Donald Trump: they make it sound like world war three is happenening. Yet when you get away from your media sets you realize that it's still sunny outside, the world is not ending and you are still having a good day. And hopefully you will realize that for farmers it is also a similar day and they are taking care of their animals and at the same time doing their jobs to help stock up grocery stores so that the predictions of Donald Trump or Mercy for animals may never happen.

Jimmy Singh, Ottawa

You can stage any video/action to twist the real facts . As a long time prok producer I belief all producers are much more humane aware now than ever before and really try to do absolutely best for there animals every day. I don't believe in personal,public attacks but Stephen is there anything in animal production,crops,ethanol ,ect. that you approve of-respectfully yours-kg kimball

I fail to see how an undercover video could possibly "twist the true facts" because the true facts are there for everyone to see - there's no possible half truth and it's changed the whole evidentiary process, and it all-too-often shows farmers in a bad light.

We, in agriculture, have long stood on a pedestal to try to persuade people about our "right to farm" and our caring attitudes towards our animals, our workers and whatever else for which we might be criticized.

While many farmers do a great job, it's the ones who don't who give us all a black eye and they are the ones being targeted by undercover groups - and it's not just agriculture. John Stewart used his Daily Show to find video clips of what people said in the past and compared it to what they are saying now, and he did it again last week when he skewered Sean Hannity of Fox News. While Stewart's victims all cry foul, their double standards are presented on video for all to see and farmers should not expect to be treated any differently.

We, in agriculture need to learn that we cannot exist in isolation the way we have in the past and many farmers seem to be unable to deal with this new reality.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

One such real recent example is the Ontario PC's have put out how some one got a hydro bill and did not use any hydro . Truth not told is that there is a base rate/charge to every hydro account every month whether you use hydro or not . If the hydro is hooked up , you get a monthly charge . The $113.00 hydro bill was for a 3 month billing period of the minimum monthly charge . It is not a separate line item on your bill . Do the PC's not know this ? Likely they do but never bothered to disclose that tidbit of information .

So not disputing your comment but with technology today it would be easy to make a video that is less than the real truth . Then add in a voice over commentary and make it sound worse yet . I remember my mother telling me " don't believe most of what you hear and only half of what you see" .

A group like Mercy for Animals has only one objective and that is eliminating livestock/poultry farming. They could probably post an undercover video of insinuated farm abuse every day but they realize the puplic would grow wearing of them rather quickly.After all it can go viral to watch someone break a car window on a hot day to save a dog but 3 or 4 different ones in a week would become saturating!.. So Mercy picks and chooses their spots,you would think if they were so worried about animal abuse they would show as many undercover videos as they could but again.. It's not their prime objective!

The above poster's credibility went into the toilet when proffering the phrase "insinuated farm abuse" as if the abuse caught on film was somehow staged for dramatic excess.

Farmers can be as dismissive as they like, but what's caught on film is the reality of life in 2016, and not just in agriculture.

It really doesn't matter whether eliminating animal agriculture is the objective of Mercy for Animals or whether it's something completely different, the recording of animal abuse speaks for itself and must be addressed.

We, in agriculture, need to present a far-better image than the "shoot-the-messenger" and/or "deny, stall, delay" tactics presented by the above poster.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

well said. i like when someone speaks the truth on here.

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