Livestock cruelty laws: Ontario moves forward
CANADA - Ontario livestock producers and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) may view the issues of animal welfare and livestock cruelty from very different vantage points, but they agree that the current system of enforcing cruelty legislation is flawed. After looking westward, they think they’ve found a solution.
6 October 2006
2 minute read
The OSPCA and the Ontario Farm Animal Council (OFAC), which represents the province’s 40,000 livestock and poultry farmers, have joined forces to advocate for a livestock protection plan for Ontario that is based on the Alberta Livestock Protection System (ALPS).
Formed in 1998 and billed as "unique in Canada", that system involves a formal working partnership built on trust that includes the Alberta Agriculture ministry, the Alberta Farm Animal Care Association (AFAC), the ASPCA, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the RCMP.
ALPS manages an annual budget of almost $1M provided by the provincial government, with $900K going to the ASPCA for inspectors. The remaining $92K goes to cover the cost of an on-call veterinarian who works for AFAC to educate producers and respond to calls on the Association’s farmer helpline, known as ALERT.
Source: AgriNews Interactive
