Federal funding will go to set up a new farm animal care council in British Columbia and establish new industry standards for animal welfare in the province.
The federal government on Saturday announced over $500,000 in Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) funding for the B.C. Agriculture Council to set up the B.C. Farm Animal Care Council (BCFACC).
BCFACC is expected to communicate with industry, the public and other animal care councils; to monitor animal care issues, legislation and research results; and to promote animal care best practices through a series of courses on handling livestock emergencies and developing regional emergency response plans.
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“Farmers and ranchers across B.C. are proud of their animal husbandry practices,” B.C. Agriculture Council chairman Garnet Etsell said in the government’s release. “Funding this initiative will build on this success and keep B.C. agriculture at the leading edge with respect to the humane treatment of animals.”
“Through this investment, animals benefit, farmers and ranchers benefit, and the industry benefits,” said Stuart Wilson, chair of the Investment Agriculture Foundation, which administers ACAAF funding in B.C.
The agriculture council in 2008 got $55,000 for a project to examine the effectiveness of farm animal care councils in other provinces in addressing animal care issues and to “set a course of action for the B.C. industry to take.”
Similar groups already operating in Canada include the National Farm Animal Care Council, Ontario Farm Animal Council, Manitoba Farm Animal Council, Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan and Alberta Farm Animal Care.
B.C.’s new animal care council is expected to help ensure that consumers and the general public are “knowledgeable and confident that B.C. livestock products are produced using humane, science-based farm animal care practices, contributing to the sustainability and the value of the industry,” the government said.
BCFACC’s mandate and strategic direction is to be charted by a new working group, with representatives from organizations representing livestock producers, BCAC, the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, and the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association.
