New Zealand pig farmers want to suppress audit results

A leaked e-mail suggests that New Zealand pig farmers are attempting to suppress the results of a Pork Industry Board audit conducted earlier this year.
The communication, written by the veterinarian who carried out the audit, said there will likely be a number of farms requiring corrective action and that those actions could cause embarrassment for the farmers and the industry if they were made public. As a result, alternatives to current procedures were suggested, including making the complete documentation available only to the appropriate farmer and the person conducting the audit. In that case, the Board would only be notified of "pass," "fail" or "pending corrective actions (unspecified)" designations. The bulk of the information would remain exempt from the Official Information Act and, consequently, from the public eye.
According to Board Chief Executive Sam McIvor, many farmers had requested that results remain private before they would agree to the voluntary nationwide audit. He said the key is to balance the interests of the farmers with the interests of the public. "There does have to be some trust and the customers need to be able to trust that we have the processes in place," said McIvor.
Members of Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE) have said they will go to the Ombudsmen's Office with a formal complaint if the complete audit results are not released. "It obviously shows that they're not transparent," said SAFE Spokesman Hans Kriek about the leaked e-mail.
According to the e-mail, the audit has been put on hold while the pork industry seeks legal advice.

German poultry producer responds to abuse allegations

Wiesenhof, a major German poultry producer, is ending its relationship with an animal transport company and suing a contract grower after a German television station broadcast images of alleged animal abuse by the business partners, according to The Local, a German news Web site.
The problems were made public on January 11 when a television news program showed video footage secretly taped by activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The program included images of a Wiesenhof contract grower’s chicken housing that The Local described as “an unlit, cramped space.” Other footage showed workers kicking and throwing chickens into transport boxes and trucks.
In a statement, Wiesenhof called the birds’ treatment “absolutely unacceptable” and said it “will, as a consequence of this isolated case, no longer work with the outside firm responsible for the transport of the animals.” Wiesenhof pledged to add unannounced checks of contract growers’ facilities to its inspection routine.
Wiesnhof’s parent company, the PHW Group, has said it will sue the contract grower featured on the news show for failing to meet his contractual obligations to abide by animal welfare laws, The Local reported. The company may also ask state prosecutors to press charges against PETA for not reporting the abuse immediately and allegedly encouraging abuse in order to produce more shocking footage.
On January 12, PETA pressed charges against Wiesenhof under animal welfare laws.

Hy-Line acknowledges animal welfare practices violation

Hy-Line announced that independent audits confirm that some of the practices at its Spencer, Iowa, facility depicted in the undercover video produced by a welfare group last week did not reflect the standard operating procedures of the company and are in direct violation of its animal welfare policy.
The independent audits identified specific recommendations for Hy-Line to modify its equipment so that it cannot be altered or changed. Those corrective actions to equipment and procedures were implemented immediately, the firm said.
The firm also said it will enforce zero-tolerance policy toward employees behavior that does not conform to established animal well-being procedures. Ongoing training and investments are also mandatory to ensure that employees abide by the company's highest operating standards.