Maple Lodge Farms investigating alleged chicken abuse

Canadian poultry processor Maple Lodge Farms is investigating allegations of animal abuse at its Brampton, Ontario, facility after a video released by animal rights activist group Mercy For Animals Canada has surfaced.
Mercy for Animals Canada stated that the video depicts scenes from hidden-camera footage at a Maple Lodge Farms plant in Brampton.
“Some of the images in the video are disturbing and are not in keeping with our standards. We assure you of our prompt attention to this very serious matter,” Maple Lodge Farms said in a statement.
“We have launched our own investigation and in keeping with our zero tolerance policy for any violation of our animal welfare policies, we will take appropriate disciplinary action, including dismissal, in any instance where non-compliance is identified.
“We want to assure you that the humane treatment of the birds in our care is a very high priority, and a moral responsibility, that we take seriously.”
Maple Lodge Farms stated that all of its employees, as well as its partners, are required to adhere to codes of practice for the care and handling of poultry. These are strict guidelines developed for the industry by representatives from farm groups, animal welfare groups, veterinarians, animal scientists, federal and provincial governments, and other stakeholders, the company added.
The company further vowed that any non-compliance to its animal welfare programs identified in the company’s investigation will be addressed promptly.

4 who photographed pig farm charged under Utah ag gag law

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  freeimages.com/lusi

  Four animal rights activists who are suspected of photographing a Utah pig farm have been charged under the state's ag gag law.

  From WATTAgNet:
  Four animal rights activists who photographed a Utah pig farm in September 2014 may be the first defendants prosecuted under the state’s "ag gag" law.
  Robert Penney, 64; Sarah Jane Hardt, 43; Harold Weiss, 34; and Bryan Monell, 50, all California residents, have each been charged in Iron County Justice Court with one count each of class B misdemeanor criminal trespassing on agricultural land, and agricultural operation interference.
  The suspects, who are with the Farm Animals Rights Movements, were aware that Utah had an ag gag law — which makes undercover investigations and surreptitious recording of animal agricultural operations a crime — and were planning to take photos of the farm from public areas.
  Hardt told reporters she and the other animal rights activists were planning to document the trek that truckloads of pigs took from the Utah farm to a downtown Los Angeles slaughterhouse. She asserts they did not enter the property that was photographed.
  A witness had apparently alerted local authorities about the group near the farm, and they were detained by deputies from the Beaver County and Iron County sheriff’s offices for five hours. They were never arrested, Hardt said, but they were given citations.
  The four suspects are scheduled to make their first appearances in the justice court in Parowan on January 7.
  The law was passed by the Utah legislature in 2012.

Animal Agriculture Alliance president to be featured in National Geographic series 'Inside: Secret America'

Animal Agriculture Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith will be featured in a new National Geographic Channel series, "Inside: Secret America." Johnson Smith will appear in a segment captioned "Animal Undercover" at 10 p.m. EST. on July 31.

The Animal Agriculture Alliance was approached in February by series producers and investigative journalists Mariana van Zeller and Darren Foster about a segment focusing on the animal rights movement, undercover videos and farm protection, or so-termed "ag gag" legislation. The producers indicated they were initially drawn to this topic because of the deceptive and sometimes extreme tactics employed by activist groups. Johnson Smith sat down with van Zeller and discussed the real motivations behind the animal rights movement and the truth about undercover videos.

"The American public has a knowledge gap about farming and ranching; people really don't have any first-hand knowledge about how food is produced, so they're very susceptible to videos presented by activist groups," said Johnson Smith. "Legislators in many states have stepped up and recognized the importance of agriculture and have decided to protect our nation's farm families."

Van Zeller and Foster also interviewed several members of animal rights groups including Mercy for Animals, a group that frequently uses undercover video footage, often in a misleading way, to disparaged animal agriculture. "We were pleased that the alliance would be contacted to appear on a new show airing on a network as prestigious at National Geographic," said Johnson Smith. "It's important to engage with journalists - even on such controversial topics - so that agriculture's story isn't told by detractors."

The series will air every Wednesday. 

Indiana Senate panel advances bill banning undercover surveillance of farms

An Indiana Senate committee has approved a bill that would make it illegal to take photographs or shoot footage at farms and businesses without the owner's consent.
The bill was approved February 12 on a 7-2 vote by the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law. It now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, Ind., told The Journal Gazette the bill targets animal rights vigilantes who enter private property with the sole intent of obtaining undercover photos or videos. The bill does not include photographs or videos taken from public property.

Pig farming: Effectively managing a crisis

Undercover videos being shot on pig farms are being released about every five weeks, and pork farmers need to have a crisis action plan in place — because it can happen to you. At the 2012 World Pork Expo, the “Doing what’s right vs. looking for the camera” seminar covered what pig farmers need to do if confronted with an undercover video.
Lynn Becker, a Minnesota pig producer, was taken by surprise 3-and-a-half years ago when, after purchasing a pig operation, he was informed a PETA undercover video would be released.
“We had just taken ownership of the farm 28 days before the video was released,” says Becker. “The majority of the filming was done before our ownership and new management. The three-minute video showed intolerable conditions, and we have to make sure this doesn’t happen in our pig operation on a daily basis.”
Within 24 hours Becker had 1,000 emails and more were coming. His pig farm was worldwide news and had quite an impact on the pig industry. “I still get emails today; the video was aimed at Hormel because we were supplying pigs for them. If you Google my name there are almost 110,000 online and print articles with my name in it,” he says.
“Get your side of the story out first. Be vigilant, be prepared and operate like you are on camera,” says Becker. Make sure the positive barn culture is there all the time and investigate anything reported that is remotely perceived as animal abuse.”
Hiring the right people 
Everyone on the farm has the ethical responsibility to protect the pigs within their care. “We recommend background checks and reference checks for all new employees,” says Sherrie Niekamp of the National Pork Board. “These can be a tip off if this potential employee is truly interested in working in the pig industry or if they are temporary and could result in a video.”
Niekamp recommends all pig operations have written job descriptions and a set of expectations. Interview questions are another way to test out real-work scenarios to see how the person would react to a specific situation. Those can be good queues to their beliefs, culture and attitude toward animals.
“Caring for animals on a day-to-day basis can be stressful if they are charged with tasks like humane euthanasia,” says Niekamp. “Define what is not acceptable and have a whistle-blower policy. This puts some responsibility on the caretakers that if they witness an event they need to report it and how to report it and who to go to. The other side of that is to investigate every incidence.”
Formally documenting all processes is a good way to show you have an established program, says Niekamp. Even if it’s on-the-job training, written standard operating procedures for daily tasks and annual reviews are positive ways to give employees feedback.
Have a crisis plan
If you are contacted by an animal rights group, you need to have a documented plan in place. “Who is in charge of the situation?” asks Cindy Cunningham of the National Pork Board (watch video of Cunningham at the presentation). “Is the contact legitimate? Who else needs to know? Who can help? But the most important thing is getting the facts straight -- write everything down.”
In all of the undercover videos, we’ve found that what gets the video off the front page is to take immediate corrective action, which shows the pig industry is dedicated to doing the right thing," says Cunningham. “The first line of defense is to do the right thing on your farm to keep you out of this situation. Have your alliances and reputations in order before you need them.”

US may resume horse slaughter

Prior to the 2007 ban, 100,000 horses representing the surplus population were processed in the U.S. each year.

An in-depth review in a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal documents the effect of the ban on U.S. slaughtered horses introduced four years ago. A meeting entitled “Summit of the Horse” aims at resuming slaughter of horses in part to dispose of the old, lame and surplus animals that are either shipped to Mexico or live an unhappy life in the U.S.
Animal-rights activists wish to exacerbate the situation by banning the export of up to 60,000 horses annually. Prior to the 2007 ban, 100,000 horses representing the surplus population were processed in the U.S. each year. The American Humane Association, noted for its pragmatism and even-handed approach to welfare of all animals including livestock and pets, has agreed to develop science-based guidelines for handling and processing horses. The National Conference of State Legislatures has adopted a resolution requesting Congress to support horse processing and to rescind the 2007 ban.
An additional problem relating to horses is the accumulation of thousands of feral mustangs which are culled each year to reduce herds to manageable levels.
Costs for management and subsistence have risen to over $37 million annually to temporary hold 40,000 horses in corrals and pasture. According to the Bureau of Land Management, slaughter is not an acceptable option.

Animal Agriculture Alliance conference set for April

The Animal Agriculture Alliance will host its ninth annual Stakeholders Summit on April 28 and 29, 2010, in Arlington, Va. The conference will address issues facing animal agriculture, including animal welfare, public health, farm security and the animal rights movement.
Early registration for the one-and-a-half day event is $325 for Alliance members, $375 for non-members and $275 for individuals in government or academia. Registration materials, hotel information, and sponsorship information are available on the Alliance’s Web site.

Consumer attitudes on welfare

A report on a recent study on consumer attitudes towards welfare, conducted by agricultural economists F. Bailey Norwood and Jayson Lusk at Oklahoma State University, was published in Farm Gate, a University of Illinois journal. Only 29% of the responders regarded "welfare" to be of low importance. Almost 70% maintained that “animals should not suffer” but that “happiness” is not a consideration with regard to food producing livestock.
A majority of consumers [58%] supported relevant legislation to prevent cruelty and a quarter of those questioned supported the principle of laws to ban housing systems opposed by the majority of citizens. There appears to be considerable support for voluntary labeling of food products with almost half of the respondents in favor of some visible indication of welfare standard and housing system.
The authors of the review analyzed the campaign mounted by United Egg Producers and proponents of confined housing for egg production in relation to the opposition raised by HSUS and kindred organizations. The conflict is entrenched in public perceptions of animal wellbeing and the definition of "welfare." The discrepancy between theory and practice allows organizations opposing intensive animal production to inject emotion into the debate and to distort facts and scientific knowledge to advance their cause. Read the full blog on AnimalAgNet.

Welfare labels for all of Europe’s meat?

A pig housing supplier in Europe warned recently that all meat produced in the European Union would soon be required by a new EU law to be labelled with one of four possible categories according to the animal welfare status of the system used in its production.
The warning may have been slightly premature in that the EU discussions are still ongoing (and no-one yet knows the number of categories, nor the proposed form of assessment). But it is true that the European Commission has tabled proposals for a co-ordinated labelling scheme aimed at informing consumers and encouraging higher-welfare systems. ... Read the rest of the blog on AnimalAgNet.com.

Michigan legislation to pre-empt HSUS initiatives

A package of bills has been introduced into the Michigan Legislature to establish a standard for farm animal care. The plan placed before the House Agriculture Committee will define the authority of the Department of Agriculture and the Agriculture Commission as the sole authority to regulate livestock health and welfare.
This action follows similar legislation in Oklahoma. Standards for animal care to be implemented by 2020 will be based on scientific knowledge. An Animal Care Advisory Council will make recommendations for changes to standards and a third party auditing system will be created to oversee the program.
In a similar measure, the Ohio House and Senate Agriculture Committees have passed a joint resolution empowering the Livestock Care Standards Board to regulate housing and welfare of livestock.
The HSUS which has threatened to mount a 2008-style Proposition 2 initiative opposed this action which will be placed before the electorate in November 2009.

EU approves new rules for animal slaughter

European farm ministers have given their assent to new rules to lessen the suffering of animals during slaughter, Morning Star reported.
Slaughterhouses will be required to include animal welfare in their design, monitor techniques for stunning before slaughter and ensure the animals are unconscious when they are killed.
The law also requires all staff at the abattoirs to be trained and certified. An animal welfare officer will also be appointed. The rules take effect in 2013.

FAO establishes animal welfare 'Gateway'

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has established a Web site (Gateway) addressing international aspects of welfare of livestock. The Web site is designed to be used by national agencies involved in agriculture, biosecurity and export promotion in addition to the scientific community, NGOs and industry associations.
Information on their gateway will include news and press releases, details of congresses, seminars and workshops, recent publications, pending and enacted legislation, codes of practice and links to relevant Web sites.
Organizations contributing to the Gateway include:
*International Fund for Agriculture Development,
*World Organization for Animal Health,
*Compassion and World Farming,
*Humane Society International,
*Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
*International Federation of Agriculture Producers, and
*World Veterinarian Association.
The editorial board comprising 22 individuals with diverse backgrounds range through law, veterinary medicine, international development, animal behavior and administration. Familiar names include Dr. David Fraser of the University of British Columbia; M. Park of the Humane Society of the United States and Dr. Ian Robinson of the RSPCA.
Based on the intended objectives and the composition of the collaborating organizations, the FAO Gateway will provide the U.S. poultry industry with an indication of impending legislation which may impact international trade, welfare, housing and management systems.

Extremist attacks on global food chain increase 42% in 2008, says Alliance

Attacks on the global food chain from animal rights and environmental extremists jumped 42%—from 155 in 2007 to 220 in 2008—according to Arlington, Virginia-based Animal Agriculture Alliance.
Worse yet, claimed attacks on food retailers in the U.S. from groups like the Animal Liberation Front exploded 377%, said the Alliance.The information compiled by the Alliance showed that Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), DBF (a branch of ALF found in Sweden and the Netherlands) and related groups claimed a total of 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism and arson in 2008, up from 467 in 2007, an increase of over 35%. The overall level of animal rights extremist attacks in the U.S. on businesses that use animals—including medical research, consumer product safety, pets, circuses, rodeos, fur shops, hunting stores, farmers, ranchers, food retailers—surged nearly 40%.
An even more troubling development is the massive expansion of damages inflicted upon food retailers. Claimed attacks on food retailers in the U.S., especially the brand names of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Hardee’s, increased from 9 in 2007 to 34 in 2008, an increase of 377%. Destruction or defacement of property—especially smashing windows, etching windows, and painting (or paint bombing) windows, buildings, vans and billboards—were the most frequently used techniques used by extremist groups in their attempts to intimidate food chain businesses to shut down.
In terms of terrorist activities, global animal rights extremist groups combined to claim over 600 separate terrorist acts, including arson, firebombing autos/trucks, theft, and much more. Attacks in Mexico on the rise, U.S.“hotbeds of extremism” not only targets Extremists claimed responsibility for the “liberation” of thousands of animals during the year, and millions of dollars in damage. Mexico appears to be an emerging center for animal rights terrorism.
In 2008, extremist groups in Mexico claimed more than double the amount of attacks than were claimed in the U.S. The geographic array of attacks in the U.S. is equally disturbing.
“We have seen a significant change in extremist activity directed against the food chain,” said Kay Johnson Smith, executive vice president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance. “The numbers of attacks against food retailers in hotbeds of extremism like California and New York were noticeably lower, while attacks in other areas not widely associated with animal rights extremism increased markedly."
The message is loud and clear that the agenda of these groups is focused solely on advancing a vegan agenda through destruction and intimidation,” said Johnson Smith. “The fact that extremists are willing to massively increase their attacks on the food chain during a serious economic downturn should cause major alarm for all companies and organizations responsible for feeding people. The exponential escalation of attacks is shocking and disturbing. All companies in the food chain need to be vigilant, enhance their security efforts and be sure to report all incidents to their local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
The Alliance said that Bite Back magazine was its main source for compiling data on terrorist acts claimed by the animal rights terrorist groups. Additionally, independent media reports and state agriculture groups also provided critical information, said Alliance.