Farmscape for July 17, 2013

The National Farm Animal Care Council reports the level of public interest in a proposed updated Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs in Canada has been strong.
The National Farm Animal Care Council is coordinating the update of codes of practice for the care and handling of eight farmed livestock species in Canada.
The 60 day public comment period for the proposed Pig Code of Practice, released June 1, ends August 3. NFACC general manager Jackie Wepruk says the proposed pig code has generated more interest than any other code being updated so far.

Clip-Jackie Wepruk-National Farm Animal Care Council:
Like most code development committees including the pig code they've had to deal with some pretty common issues.
There've been some common themes across the all codes like addressing painful practices and confinement housing type systems including considerations around space allowances.
These are really the topics where there can be some very diverse views.
Specific to the pig code the changes that have captured the most attention have related to gestation stalls.
Certainly that has probably been the number one topic within media circles but also we've had a fair amount of interest as well around the pig space allowances within gestation stalls and also for nursery and grower finisher pigs.
As well providing post procedural pain control for castration has been another topic that has been of considerable interest to those providing feedback.
The goal of the Code Development Committee was to reach a balance on all of these things that is good for the animals, achievable by producers and sustainable for the future in a way that can also address what we're seeing in terms market needs and expectations.

Wepruk says over three thousand comments have been received on the draft pig code so far.
She says we're seeing more feedback coming in now from producers and individuals that have identified themselves as animal welfare advocates or consumers have also provided a lot of feedback.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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