Farmscape for December 19, 2023
| Full Interview 19:18 | Listen  |
The NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Swine Welfare suggests increasingly consumers are looking for assurances that the pork they buy comes from animals that have been well cared for and have had a good quality of life. Research conducted through the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Swine Welfare Research Program will be the focus of a forum scheduled for January 9th, Day One of the 2024 Banff Pork Seminar. Dr. Yolande Seddon, an Associate Professor Swine Behavior and Welfare with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Swine Welfare, says questions are being asked of the pork value chain about how meat is being produced.
Quote-Dr. Yolande Seddon-Western College of Veterinary Medicine:
Not only does this go back to food safety and antibiotic use but questions over the ethics of rearing practices and it’s furthered by the fact that we’re learning more about pigs, pigs being used as a model for human research and, when we understand the capabilities of the animal as a sentient being to feel emotional states to be suffering, that in itself has to make us question are the practices that we have been running so far, is this negatively impacting the animals? Do we need to be altering how we’re managing these animals now that we have a greater appreciation for how the animal experiences this world.
It is a requirement; it is expected that animals that are being produced for meat are having a good quality of life and have appropriate animal care for that species and are not suffering. Therefor the industry is already operating in a way to take steps to assure that. You need to not only deliver that but then to follow through and provide information to say this is how we’re rearing our animals, this is how we can confirm that our production practices are meeting ethical standards that are expected of today’s pork value chain.
For information on the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Swine Welfare Research Program or to register for the Banff Pork Seminar forum search swinewelfare.com or swinewelfare.ca.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca. Bruce Cochrane.
*Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers
