1. EU WELFARE INITIATIVES
Responding to the opinion held by most
Europeans that farmed animal welfare is very poor,
European Union (EU) farm ministers mostly backed a
welfare labeling idea, while meeting on June 19th.
The proposal is part of a 5-year plan by the European
Commission to improve animal treatment. The Commission’s
plan also calls for species-specific welfare rules
and improvements in monitoring vehicles transporting
animals long distances across the 25-nation region.
While the majority of ministers agreed on the need
for minimal welfare rules, they also warned of increased
costs to consumers and competition from countries
with cheaper products but lower standards. They requested
that the Commission carry out a full impact assessment
on the labeling concept and more scientific analysis
before a decision is made. See also: http://tinyurl.com/fosth
Meanwhile, the European Commission has requested that
the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issue a
scientific opinion on “the animal health and
welfare aspects of intensive calf farming systems”
and their compatibility with the needs of these animals.
Both major and minor welfare risks are identified
in the various husbandry systems considered.
Also in the EU, new rules for the transport of farmed
and other animals (e.g., dogs and horses) for commercial
purposes are slated to come into effect in January
2007. Among the wide-ranging rules is a requirement
that anyone transporting such animals more than 65
kilometers (40.36 miles) must be specifically authorized.
Drivers and attendants for such trips will need a
certificate of competence, and vehicles used to transport
animals for longer than 8 hours will need to pass
an inspection.
EU Considers Labeling Food to Boost Animal
Welfare
Reuters Limited, Jeremy Smith, June 20, 2006
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36896/story.htm
Opinion of the Scientific Panel AHAW Related with
the Risks of Poor Welfare in Intensive Calf Farming
Systems
European Food Safety Authority, June 6, 2006
http://www.efsa.eu.int/science/ahaw/ahaw_opinions/1516_en.html
European Livestock Transport Rules Changed
(Meat Processing, Chris Harris, June 15, 2006
http://meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article&artNum=11779
2. CANADIAN, AUSTRALIAN WELFARE INITIATIVES
Funded in part by government agencies,
a national project to develop a “coordinated,
proactive approach to farm animal welfare” in
Canada is being coordinated by the industry-based
Ontario Farm Animal Council (OFAC); its three sister
groups in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta; and
the new National Farm Animal Care Council. The Putting
Farm Animal Welfare on the Agenda project will “promote
initiatives to farmers and veterinarians who work
directly with the animals, as well as to consumers
who are interested in knowing how animals are raised.”
Its three major components are a workshop and speakers
bureau, enhanced communications and outreach, and
farm animal handling training. The $700,00 project
is to take place over the next three years.
Australia’s Voiceless is accepting
applications for its annual grants program. Over $100,000
will be awarded to non-profit organizations, councils
and universities working to improve the lives of animals
in Australia. Applications must be project-based,
aiming to change attitudes and/or increase awareness
about animal protection, encourage the public to take
action for animals in their personal lives, or work
to modify or create new laws or policies to further
animal protection in the country. A $10,000 grant
and a $5,000 grant are intended specifically “to
end the suffering of factory farmed animals.”
The application deadline is June 30th. An article
by the corporate counsel of Voiceless about the global
status of farmed animals can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/oj39q
New Project Puts Farm Animal Welfare
on the Agenda
National Farm Animal Care Council, Susan Church, June
14, 2006
(pdf file): http://tinyurl.com/hvp7y
Over $100,000 Up for Grabs!
Voiceless, press release, May 2, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/rpzud
3. SALMONELLA AND EGG TRACEBACK
About one in every five large-scale
commercial egg operations have laying hens infected
with pathogenic Salmonella, according to an EU-wide
study by the European Food Safety Authority. Samples
came from laying hen flocks in the last nine weeks
of production. In countries with both vaccinated and
unvaccinated flocks, there was no difference in the
proportion of infected hens. The study is part of
an EU-wide program to improve food safety by scientifically
assessing the problems at the farm level and then
determining what policies should be followed throughout
the supply chain. Tighter regulatory controls on farms
and processors could result. The agency expects to
release a final report this October.
Eggsactrace is a new system devised in Canada to
allow anyone to trace an egg back to its site of origin.
It can also tell the date it was laid and the type
of production system used, along with other information.
It involves a code that is stamped on eggs with a
food-grade ink that will not wash or boil off. The
coding could also identify disease in a particular
batch of eggs at a certain farm, precluding the need
for retailers to pull their entire supply and the
killing thousands of uninfected birds. Promotional
information about the system has been sent to provincial
and federal government officials.
Study Finds Salmonella in One-Third
of the EU’s Egg Producers
Food Production Daily, June 16, 2006
http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=68472&m=1FPD616&c=ctnjryolzpagjlt
Hatching a Plan to Trace Eggs Back to the Farm
Metroland Durham Region, Chris Hall, June 16, 2006
http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/regions/scugog/story/3551434p-4102742c.html
4. DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR NEW YORK FOIE GRAS
With a double whammy, the Humane Society
of the United States (HSUS) has attacked foie gras
production in New York as being both unwholesome and
a cause of pollution. Using a novel legal strategy,
the organization has petitioned the state's Department
of Agriculture and Markets with a request that foie
gras be declared an adulterated food. It provided
evidence that the process of producing foie gras causes
the birds’ livers to become pathologically large
("hypertrophied"), resulting in a diseased
product. As such, the agriculture commissioner would
have the option of banning it.
In a separate action, HSUS notified New York’s
Hudson Valley Foie Gras and the state’s Department
of Environmental Conservation (DEC) of its intention
to sue Hudson Valley for more than 900 violations
of the federal Clean Water Act. It claims the company
has released unacceptable amounts of ammonia, chlorine
and fecal bacteria into the Middle Mongaup River.
Hudson Valley claims most of the alleged violations
were due to typographical errors in the records it
was required to provide the DEC. The company has six
months to respond or the state could force compliance.
Otherwise, the suit will go forward. Hudson Valley
is the sole producer of foie gras in New York, with
the only other U.S. foie gras producer being in California.
As we previously reported, HSUS has asked N.Y. Governor
George Pataki to retract a $420,000 grant to Hudson
Valley and investigate it for violations of state
animal cruelty laws. The HSUS also threatened to sue
the state for funding an illegal activity.
The 2-year campaign against serving foie gras in
Pittsburgh, which has included acts of vandalism,
is discussed in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article
with photographs at:
http://tinyurl.com/gq26v
Animal Rights Groups Ask New York to
Ban Foie Gras
The New York Times, Anthony Ramirez, June 22, 2006
www.nytimes.com/2006/06/22/nyregion/22ducks.html
Foie Gras Targeted Again by Animal Rights Group:
Are the Ducks Really in Pain?
River Reporter, Fritz Mayer, June 15-21, 2006
http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/06-06-15/head1-foiegras.html
5.
CALIFORNIA DAIRY POLLUTION
California’s San Joaquin Valley
is the nation's top-producing dairy region. As the
latest step in carrying out a 2003 state law aimed
at air pollution caused by agriculture, the San Joaquin
Valley Air Pollution Control District board has approved
rules to cut pollution in the form of volatile organic
compounds from large dairy farms. These compounds
drift into the air from manure, feed piles and other
dairy sources, and then mix with other pollution and
sunlight to form smog. Dairy industry groups generally
support the rules but environmentalists say that they
rely on existing dairy practices and won’t cut
down on smog. The Board contends that the rules will
eliminate a quarter of the smog-making gases coming
from dairies. Earthjustice Legal Defense is hinting
of a lawsuit. Waterkeeper Alliance founder and president
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also been campaigning
against “megadairies”
in the state, with a focus on water quality issues.
Measures to Reduce Smog from Cows OK’d
Sacramento Bee, John Holland, June 16, 2006
http://www.modbee.com/ag/story/12327052p-13059344c.html
6.
QUICK UPDATES
Alleging that several Smithfield Food
employees "slapped, kicked, dragged by the ears
and cruelly transported and killed pigs who were severely
injured," People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) has asked law enforcement officials
in Suffolk County, Va. to file criminal charges against
the company for mistreating pigs involved in traffic
accidents. See: http://tinyurl.com/mrxfh
PETA has posted footage of the most recent incident
on-line: http://goveg.com/f-smithfields.asp
Whole Foods has selected Clearwater
Seafoods as its sole supplier of frozen lobsters,
following the
grocery retailer’s ban on the sale of live
lobsters. Clearwater employs “condos”
that maintain lobsters in individual cells and reportedly
shocks them to death instantaneously in a water chamber
that is said to be less inhumane than is boiling them
alive. Stating that the company shares with Whole
Foods "a commitment to resource sustainability,
a healthy ecosystem, and a deep respect for the lobster,"
Clearwater’s CEO later acknowledged that its
innovations are more about savvy marketing than saving
lobsters from pain and suffering. See: http://tinyurl.com/jof6h
Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam presents an interesting
perspective on the matter:
http://tinyurl.com/qrg93
An article detailing Maine’s new
meat-procurement policy (see last week’s issue
of the digest) can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/qb8v5
“Test Tube Meat Nears Dinner Table,”
an article about the prospects for lab-cultured meat,
is at: http://wired.com/news/technology/0,71201-0.html?tw=wn_index_1
|
![[missing header image]](../images/faw_goslings.jpg)
![[missing header image]](../images/newsletter_ico.jpg)