REGINA—Animal-behaviour expert Temple Grandin says cattle handling has improved and that message needs to be better shared with consumers.
Grandin told the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association’s annual meeting on June 13 that it makes her angry when people don’t know anything “about a lot of the good stuff we’re doing.”
“I’ve worked all my life to improve slaughter plants,” she said after her speech.
“The ‘80s and the ’90s were horrible. It was horrible back in the bad old days, absolutely horrible, and now things are so much better. People don’t know about it.”
Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, specializes in calm, low-stress environments. She teaches courses on animal behaviour and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare.
Grandin wouldn’t talk specifically about standards in Canada, but she noted that there is a code of practice which she calls “a baseline standard” for producers to follow.
Standards need to be clear and measurable, she said. “We’ve got to get away from all the vague wording like ‘adequate space, handle them properly, just keep cattle clean.’ I don’t know what that means.”
Standards for treating cattle came under the spotlight in April when the Earls restaurant chain said it would only serve “certified humane” beef from U.S.-based slaughterhouses designed by Grandin.
Although there is no equivalent certification in Canada, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association says most beef producers have adopted the National Farm Animal Care Council code of practice as the minimum acceptable standard.
Earls backtracked after facing a social media storm, but a past president of the association said industry needs to be more proactive as well.
“We can ... say we made a mistake too by not doing as good a job as we should have of talking about our humane animal handling ... and our code of practice and our standards that are world class, so we’ve got work to do,” said Dave Solverson, who also spoke at the stock growers meeting.
The Canadian system isn’t “certified humane,” but standards “are similar or even exceed the requirements for American certified humane,” Solverson said.
The beef code of practice is being integrated into the verified beef production-plus program, which records producer practices in animal care and welfare, sustainability, and environment.
Solverson hopes that will “fill the gap” for markets that require verification and audits.
“Even though our producers are doing the things and we have the code of practice ... a lot of the retailers and food service people are trying to differentiate from others and they want their verification.”
From The Canadian Press
