Farmers have to manage animal welfare issues
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 03/01/2010 2:15 PM
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WAVERLY, Iowa — If livestock producers don't start policing themselves on animal welfare, it will be done for them.
"And that will be far worse," said Jan Shearer, an Iowa State University Extension veterinarian when he spoke twith members of the Iowa State Dairy Association at their recent annual meeting in Waverly. "We've got to manage this ourselves."
In the decades after World War II enormous growth took place in farm animal production. Cages for laying hens, gestation crates for sows and pens for veal calves were developed.
In the 1990s, the European Union began moving away from these practices. The EU banned veal crates, required larger pens for layer hens and eliminated sow gestation stalls.
The issue moved to the United States when Florida outlawed gestation stalls in 2002, followed by Arizona in 2006, Oregon in 2007 and Colorado in 2008. In 2008 California passed the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, which requires that veal calves, sows and layer hens have enough space to turn around and stretch their limbs.
These actions have been fortified by livestock abuse videos of mishandled dairy cattle at Westland Hallmark Packing Plant and veal calf abuse at the Bushway packing plant.
"The video of the veal calves was one of the worst I've ever seen," Shearer said. "Through these events, society gets the notion that the livestock industry is unable or unwilling to police itself."
Society is far more urbanized with fewer than 1.5 percent of the population farming compared to 25 percent before World War II.
""The only experience many people have ever had with animals is as companions," Shearer said. "I grew up in a rural environment, and I struggle with students who have problems making a distinction between animals we have for food and those we have for companions."
The Disney factor contributes, Shearer said. Animals on television speak and take on human values. Through evolutionary biology, people learn that humans are descendants of animals and are very similar to them. Society reaches the conclusion that animals need protection.
Producers need to treat their animals with compassion, caring for them responsibly with respect and fairness, Shearer said. Producers need to assess if animals are functioning well, if they're feeling well, and if they are able to live reasonably normal lives expressing their normal innate behavior.
Physical abuse of animals is outright and obvious but other practices are not as clear cut, Shearer said. Neglect and insufficient housing are welfare issues.
"We have to figure out ways to make environments more comfortable for cows," Shearer said.
Poor husbandry, careless animal handling, unnecessary or poorly executed physical alterations and transporting two-day-old calves hundreds of miles without food or water are all welfare concerns. Improved calf care is needed. Starving down beef cows cannot be tolerated.
Cattle exhibitors need to look at practices like feeding excessive concentrates, isolating calves in small pens, and keeping calves in the dark day and night to grow hair, Shear said. All are unacceptable.
Shearer urges producers to create a culture of concern for animal welfare.
"Make sure your employees understand that the welfare of your animals is important," Shearer said. "You set the tone for everything that happens on your dairy."
In larger operations, Shearer advises putting someone in charge of animal welfare. Signs can be used to remind employees.
Dairy farmers should familiarize themselves with the principles of the National Milk Producers Federation's National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management.
"Work with your vet to make sure you comply," Shearer said.