Bibeau announces investment to improve animal welfare

On Monday, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced an investment of up to nearly $3 million to three national organizations to enhance animal welfare and tracking in the country.

"The dedication of Canadian producers to the welfare of their farm animals is what makes our livestock system world famous. By improving our standards and practices for care and tracking, consumers can be assured that our food system is meeting the highest standards," said Bibeau.

With funding under the AgriAssurance Program, the organizations will draw on new research to update industry standards for the care and handling of animals, and will evaluate technology to more efficiently trace farm animals in the production system in the event of a disease outbreak. The work will support the highest standards in farm animal care. The recipients include:

- Animal Health Canada, located in Elora, Ontario, will receive up to $2.9 million to update national codes of practice for the livestock sector, including the code for the safe and humane transportation of livestock. It has also developed and introduced a code of practice for the aquaculture sector covering farmed salmon, trout and arctic char.

- The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, located in Calgary, Alberta, will receive up to $52,140 to evaluate the use of ultra high frequency (UHF) scanners to read cattle identification tags as part of Canada's commitment to the international community to quickly trace the movement of animals in the event of a disease outbreak. Tag readings are recorded in a database that makes it possible for government and industry to rapidly contain the scope of a potential outbreak, protecting animal and human health.

- The Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, located in Ottawa, Ontario, will receive up to $35,750 to update its animal welfare program for hatcheries to meet the requirements of the National Farm Animal Care Council's Code of Practice for the care and handling of hatching eggs, breeders, chickens and turkeys.