Tag: farm animal cruelty

Categories
News/Blog

Federal e-petition: No factory farms for octopuses

Update

Petition e-4312 has ended after receiving 17,294 signatures. Thank you to those who took action. You can read updates on the Parliament of Canada website.

“Imagine if we could go back in time to when we first started farming pigs and put an end to that practice then and there. Because pig farming would evolve exponentially into an industry that would kill (often brutally) 1.5 billion animals each year…Chances are, most of us would jump on that opportunity to rewind the clock. Now, we’re at this historic crossroads with octopus farming. While certain countries and companies race to open the first octopus farms, scientists, advocates and policy-makers are pursuing action to ban this practice and protect these sentient creatures from the cruel world of factory farming.” – We Animals Media

View the official petition
Learn more

Say no to industrial octopus farming

As companies around the world have begun to explore industrial-scale octopus (and other cephalopod) farming, a new official federal e-petition aims to ban the practice.

  • Ban the importation of farmed cephalopod products into Canada
  • Prohibit the breeding or raising of cephalopods in captivity on Canadian territory

The federal e-petition to say no to the factory farming of these intelligent, behaviourally complex and sensitive animals is now closed.

See more campaigns

Important: After you sign the petition, be sure to check your email and click the confirmation link to ensure your signature is counted.

Photo: A Hawaiian day octopus observes visitors during a tour at Kanaloa Octopus Farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. The facility confines wild-caught octopuses alone in small tanks to perform breeding experiments on them for the octopus aquaculture industry. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA, 2022. Laura Lee Cascada / The Every Animal Project / We Animals Media

Learn more

Photos of Kanaloa Octopus Farm: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA, 2022; Laura Lee Cascada / The Every Animal Project / We Animals Media.

Photos of processing plant: Keratsini, Greece, 2020; Selene Magnolia / We Animals Media.

Anyone who has seen the award-winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher” can appreciate how smart, curious and sensitive octopuses are. They can recognise individuals outside of their own species, including humans. Field studies have recorded them engaging in tool-using behaviour in the wild and they have also exhibited problem-solving skills, including navigating mazes and solving puzzles.  

Octopuses are typically solitary, wild animals, making them particularly ill-suited to being raised in large numbers on industrial farms. Research also demonstrates that octopuses and other cephalopods have complex nervous systems and the ability to experience pain and distress – key hallmarks of sentience.  

Industrial octopus farming will also increase unsustainable pressure on wild fish populations, as the industry will require large amounts of fishmeal and fish oil products to feed farmed octopuses.  

All of this makes confining these animals in crowded, barren industrial farms especially concerning. Sign the petition calling on the Canadian government to take a stand against the farming of octopuses and other cephalopods.  

Advocates introduce federal e-petition

The petition was introduced by the Montreal SPCA and Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and supported by the Vancouver Humane Society, Animal Justice, BC SPCA, Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, Humane Canada, Last Chance for Animals and Winnipeg Humane Society. Once the petition closes, it will be presented in the House of Commons and the federal government will respond within 45 days of it being presented.  

Categories
News/Blog

Open letter: B.C. Ministry of Agriculture to review farmed animal welfare framework

Update

This action has now ended. Thank you to the 4,381 advocates who used the quick action to call for meaningful actions for farmed animals. Please see the Current Campaigns page for more ways you can help farmed animals.

The Ministry of Agriculture will be doing a review of the farmed animal welfare framework between now and spring 2023, confirms a recent article in the Country Life in BC agricultural newspaper. The Vancouver Humane Society reached out to the Ministry calling for true public transparency on farms and changes that would make a meaningful difference in the lives of the millions of sentient animals raised for food in this province.

Read the Vancouver Humane Society’s open letter to the Ministry of Agriculture:

Oct. 26, 2022

Dear Minister Popham and the Ministry of Agriculture,

We are writing in reference to the article published in Country Life in BC (October 2022, vol. 108 no. 10) confirming that the Ministry will be doing a review of the farmed animal welfare framework between now and spring 2023. We are grateful that the Ministry of Agriculture is actively taking action to consider the lives of farmed animals.

The Vancouver Humane Society represents 36,800 supporters who are concerned about the state of animal welfare for farmed animals in British Columbia. Over the past 10 years, undercover footage filmed on farms raising cows for milk, cattle for beef, pigs for meat, chickens for meat, and hens for eggs, has demonstrated that these animals are in a dire state. From being plucked bare, legs being pulled off, animals being actively abused, stereotypical behaviour like bar-biting, untreated wounds, trampled animals, and inhumane euthanasia methods, animals are not given the consideration they deserve as sentient beings.

Since the publishing of Animal Machines by Ruth Harrison in 1964, there have been disturbingly few changes to address the suffering of farmed animals. Minister Popham, you previously advocated for animals and ending their suffering when serving as the opposition party. The Ministry of Agriculture has the unique ability to significantly reduce the suffering of millions of animals each year by introducing measures that ensure true public transparency. A focus on ‘public trust’, while making no measurable changes to the suffering of animals, is unconscionable, and yet has been the primary approach of the Ministry of Agriculture to date.

We ask for the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct a thorough review which considers the importance of transparency, specifically, one that recognizes the importance of conducting consistent farm audits and making publicly available the findings of the audits. This is the only mechanism that could ensure that there is transparency that results in meaningful outcomes for the animals affected. The Vancouver Humane Society also asks to be included in all stakeholder consultation related to the farmed animal review as an animal protection agency with a British Columbia focus that exists outside of the role of enforcement.

Thank you for your serious consideration of the suffering experienced by sentient farmed animals and of our request to be included as a stakeholder in the review process,

Amy Morris
Executive Director

More than 3,000 animal supporters have called on the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce greater protections for farmed animals, including third-party audits and video surveillance on farms. Will you join us? Learn more about the ongoing campaign below.

Help protect farmed animals

In December 2021, the VHS launched a campaign calling for greater protections for farmed animals in B.C. To date, more than 2,200 animal supporters have used the quick action tool to contact the Ministry of Agriculture calling for:

  • Government-mandated and proactively-enforced compliance with the National Farm Animal Care Council Codes of Practice
  • Publicly-available reports of independent, third party audits on farms
  • Consistent video surveillance monitoring on farms
  • Emergency planning to protect farmed animals in disasters
Take quick action

Please join us in calling on B.C.’s Premier and the Minister of Agriculture to take these important actions to better protect farmed animals from cruelty and suffering.

This action has now ended.

4,381 people used this tool to call for meaningful actions for farmed animals. Thank you for taking action.

See more campaigns
Categories
News/Blog

Federal e-petition: Video surveillance in slaughterhouses

Update

Petition e-3961 is now closed. Please keep an eye on the VHS website for updates. Thank you for supporting transparency for farmed animals.

Animals suffer in slaughterhouses.

Animals in slaughterhouses face stress, fear, and pain, often after suffering through long transport journeys. Year after year, stories have emerged of horrific suffering in slaughterhouses; and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has limited resources to monitor facilities across Canada.

This is why the Vancouver Humane Society, five other animal protection organizations, and the citizens of Canada are supporting a new official federal government petition to introduce video surveillance in federally regulated slaughterhouses. Surveillance would help to:

  • Address the most egregious cruelty farmed animals face at the end of their short lives
  • Improve compliance with cruelty laws
  • Provide transparency to Canadians who consume animal products about where their food comes from

Note: The petition closed August 24th, 2022.

See more campaigns
Categories
Opinion Editorial

“No justice” for those who exposed animal cruelty at Abbotsford hog farm

Pigs on a dirty floor of an industrial farm

Article originally published in The Daily Hive.

Today, the Excelsior 4 (now 3) begin their trial by jury for exposing animal cruelty at a hog farm in Abbotsford; but there is no justice in this case.

The story of the Excelsior 4 began in 2019, when dozens of animal activists documented the suffering of pigs at Excelsior Hog Farm, advocating for media cameras to be allowed on the farm. Their aim was simple: to show the public how much suffering goes into the meat products they can find neatly packaged on grocery store shelves.

Footage recorded on the farm reveals a dire situation. In it, pigs can be seen crammed in crates barely larger than their bodies, unable to turn around. Some have bloody lacerations on their ears; some sport large growths around their eyes or abdomens; some struggle to stand on badly broken legs. Nursing mother pigs are separated by restrictive bars from their babies who languish, helpless and dying, on filthy floors. Anonymous staff shock the animals with what appears to be electric prods as they shy away, squealing, or cart dead piglets out of the barn in wheelbarrows.

In other videos, activists can be seen breaking down in tears as they document the bruised and bloodied bodies and broken spirits of animals widely understood to be as capable of learning and social behaviour as beloved family dogs.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of unimaginable suffering, Excelsior Hog Farm has still faced no legal repercussions in the three years since the footage was taken. The so-called justice system has instead targeted a small group of individuals who exposed this cruelty, known as the Excelsior 4.

One of the Excelsior 4, Geoff Regier, had charges stayed in pre-trial. The remaining three, Roy Sasano, Amy Soranno, and Nick Schafer, face a combined total of fourteen serious charges. If convicted, they could be looking at years in prison.

The fact that this case has proceeded to the trial stage while the perpetrators of egregious cruelty carry on free of consequences is a tragic testament to the priorities of the justice system. It is not on the side of the hundreds of millions of blameless animals who languish in illness and injury behind closed doors only to be slaughtered by gas, knife, or electrocution. It is certainly not on the side of the people expressing compassion for these defenseless animals. No; it is on the side of the corporate interests that perpetuate such inhumane treatment for the sake of the bottom line.

If the measure of a society truly is how we treat our most vulnerable members, where does this leave us?

The system has failed spectacularly in protecting any semblance of empathy for farmed animals and the humans who have tried to help them thus far. If we are to have any sense of justice in our society, the perpetrators of cruelty must be held accountable; and those who expose it must be celebrated, not punished.

Categories
News/Blog

Public feedback needed on dairy farm practices

Update

The comment period for the “Dairy Cattle Code of Practice” has now ended. The updated code is set to be released in 2023. Thank you for helping to ensure animals’ well-being is considered in this consultation.

The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) “Codes of Practice” serve as guidelines for the care and handling of animals in Canada’s animal agriculture industry. The “Dairy Cattle Code of Practice” was last updated in 2009 and since that time cruelty cases, as recently as late last year at a B.C.-based dairy farm, have demonstrated serious systemic non-compliance in the dairy industry. 

NFACC is considering changes to the Code of Practice and is asking for public feedback. Your input is needed prior to the January 27th deadline to help advocate for stronger protections for cows on dairy farms.

We’ve compiled a summary of 13 key points below – please be sure to submit constructive comments in your own words. Do not copy and paste the key points below, as duplicate comments will not be considered.  

Participate in the “Dairy Cattle Code of Practice” public comment period before the January 27th deadline.

Submit your comments

Note: If you don’t have time to comment on the specific sections, you can choose to leave general comments by clicking on the “general comments on the code” section, at the end of the survey. 

13 key points:

  • Section 1: Training – Consider sharing about how previous cruel handling of cows on Canadian dairy farms (e.g. such as kicking, punching, and beating animals, as seen in the following cases: Chilliwack Cattle Sales in 2014, Cedar Valley Farms in 2021) reflects a need for stronger requirements around supervision of staff, animal welfare training, and a process for staff to report concerns that ensures accountability.
A veal calf from the dairy industry chained up during the Quebec winter. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur \ We Animals Media.
  • Section 2.2.1: Calves (Pre-Weaning) – Currently, calves are commonly kept in individual housing and are only required to be housed in a way that allows them to easily stand up, lie down, turn around and adopt a normal resting posture, with visual contact with other calves. In your comments, ask for a requirement for a full, immediate ban on tethering of calves. There should also be an immediate requirement that calves have access to an area outside of a hutch and are housed in social groups with other calves as young as possible and not later than 3 weeks of age. 
  • Section 2.2.3: Lactating and Dry Cows – Currently, cows can be kept tied in individual stalls and there is no requirement for access to pasture, outdoors or a covered, bedded pen. Share in your own words that tie-stall housing prevents freedom of movement and that a deadline should be set to phase out tie stalls as soon as possible for lactating and dry cows, as well as for heifers. Ask that housing be required to allow daily freedom of movement, exercise and social interactions year-round. Ask that pasture or outdoor access, as weather permits, and daily access to a large, covered bedded pen that allows for exercise, rest, and socialization also be a requirement. 
A calf and mother dairy cow.
A calf and mother at Sanctuaire pour animaux de ferme de l’Estrie in Quebec. Photo: Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur We Animals Media.
  • Section 2.3.1: Calving Areas – Currently, cows can be kept in stalls (including in tie stalls) while giving birth. In your comments, ask that a quicker deadline for calving in loose housed pens or pastures be required. The separation of cows and their calves soon after birth is also not addressed in this section. Separation is distressing for both the cow and calf and research shows health and social benefits when kept together. Research shows that there are active, modern farms using cow-calf systems that allow mothers and young to be together. Share in your own words why the separation of cows and their young is a concern for you as a consumer and that the industry needs to address this issue and move away from this practice.   
  • Section 2.5.1: Electric Trainers – Ask for a requirement that prohibits electric trainers, as using an electric shock device to “train” cows to urinate and defecate outside of the stall bed poses welfare issues.
  • Section 2.8: Bedding Management – In your own words, express your support for the requirement that cattle must have a resting surface with bedding, as research shows that large amounts of bedding is a crucial welfare improvement. Ask that specific bedding depth requirements be added. 
  • Section 2.10: Pasture and Exercise Yards – Currently, there is no requirement that cows have access to pasture or outdoors. Ask that pasture or outdoor access, as weather permits, and daily access to a large, covered bedded pen that allows for exercise, rest, and socialization be a requirement. In your own words, highlight one of more of the following benefits: more freedom of movement; exercise opportunities; ability to socialize and engage in more natural behaviours; reduced risk of lameness and other health problems.  
A flooded dairy farm in Abbotsford BC.
A dairy farm sits just above the floodwaters in Abbotsford, BC. Photo: Nick Schafer \ We Animals Media.
  • Section 2.11: Emergencies and Safety – In 2021, approximately 1.3 million farmed animals in B.C. died during record-breaking heat waves and flooding. This reflects the need for stronger emergency preparedness and plans for farms. Ask for required emergency planning that includes a realistic and achievable strategy to ensure animals can safely be evacuated from farms in an emergency.
  • Section 4.1 Handling, Moving and Restraining Cattle – In your own words, express your support for the requirement that prohibits the use of electric prods.  
  • Section 4.1.1: Additional Considerations when moving or handling down cattle – Ask for a requirement that electric prods also be banned for use on “down” cows who appear unable to get up. Instead, assisting a down animal should include the use of more humane tools when appropriate, such as full body slings and transport mats. Express your support for the requirement that prohibits down cattle from being moved by hoisting by chain, dragging or lifting without adequate support. Again, here you can highlight how previous cruelty cases have showcased mistreatment and mishandling of animals and that this requires stronger staff training and supervision related to moving and handling animals. 
  • Section 5.3: Caring for Sick, Injured or Compromised Animals – Express your support for the requirement that cattle in pain (from a condition or procedure) must be provided prompt pain control. Ask that this requirement be elaborated on to include the use of local anesthesia (to prevent acute pain) and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (to reduce longer lasting pain). 
A close-up of a dairy cow's eye in a transport truck.
A dairy cow is transported. Photo: Louise Jorgensen / We Animals Media.
  • Section 6.1.1: Fitness for transport – Currently, compromised animals (e.g. those with mild lameness, those who have not fully healed after a procedure) can still be transported. Dairy cows sent to auction or slaughter after their milk production declines are particularly vulnerable during transport. Ask that it be required that unfit and compromised animals are not allowed to be transported, as it poses a serious welfare concern.  
  • 6.1.3: Preparing Cattle for Transportation – Currently, cows are commonly transported while still lactating, putting them at risk for udder issues, including mastitis, due to a change in their milking routine. Ask for a requirement that cows are not lactating at the time of transport.  

Note: clicking the button below will open the link in a new tab. You can still return to this tab to review the key points.

Submit your comments
Categories
News/Blog

Speak up for better protections for farmed animals

A close up of a cow used in the dairy industry

Please ask the B.C. government to introduce third party auditing; video monitoring systems; and emergency plans to better protect farmed animals!  

Email the B.C. government now

Add your voice

Recent news coverage shares disturbing footage from an Abbotsford-based dairy, Cedar Valley Farms, showing dairy cows being violently beaten, kicked and dragged. This case is a recent example of long-standing issues within Canada’s animal agriculture system. In the last few years, there have been several high-profile undercover investigations in B.C. alone that have documented egregious animal cruelty. 

Concerningly, rather than addressing the cruelty issues taking place within the industry, governments have begun introducing anti-whistleblower legislation (commonly referred to as ‘ag-gag’ laws) which effectively deters undercover investigations from taking place.

The VHS and other animal protection groups are calling for transparency and accountability within the animal agriculture industry. Specifically, change is needed to have government-mandated and proactively-enforced compliance with the National Farm Animal Care Council Codes of Practice, as well as third party auditing and video surveillance systems on farms across B.C.

In addition, the recent floods, along with the 2021 heat dome and wildfires, reiterate the importance of protections for farmed animals during disasters and emergencies. More than 651,000 farmed animals perished in the heat dome and more than 640,000 more are reported to have died in the recent floods. Emergency planning must include a feasible strategy for urgent animal evacuations to prevent the kind of mass suffering we have seen.

Take action

  1. Please join us in calling on B.C.’s Premier and the Minister of Agriculture to take these important actions to better protect farmed animals from cruelty and suffering.

2. You can raise awareness of this issue by sharing this recent op-ed featured in the Daily Hive.

Content warning: the op-ed contains photos and descriptions of animal cruelty in the dairy industry.

Original op-ed
Facebook
Instagram

3. You can make personal changes to take a stand against dairy cruelty. The blog linked below highlights a few staff favourite dairy-free tips and products!

Get tips on going dairy-free

4. This t-shirt, which features a half cow and half dog face, reminds us to be kind to every kind. All proceeds go toward creating a kinder world for animals.

Support VHS with a merch purchase

With your help, we can see a change for the better for dairy cows and other farmed animals.

Categories
News/Blog

No more delays for full enforcement of farmed animal transport rules

Success!

2579 individuals used the quick action tool to send an email directly to decision-makers. Thanks to this strong push for action, the CFIA announced that enforcement of new regulations will begin on February 20, 2022. VHS will continue to monitor the situation and advocate for more protections for farmed animals.

Tell the federal government to adequately enforce the farmed animal transport regulations

Add your voice

Farmed animals are among the most directly impacted by human activity, with more than 800 million land animals raised and killed for food every year in Canada. Transportation is one of the most stressful activities for farmed animals. Every year in Canada, approximately 14 million animals suffer injuries and 1.6 million die during transport journeys that are often long-distance and in extreme weather conditions.

In February 2019, the federal government announced updates to the farmed animal transport regulations, set to come into force a year later in February 2020. Unfortunately, the new regulations were hardly an improvement on the previous ones that had been in place since 1977. For example, only minor amendments were made to the food, water and rest (FWR) intervals for animals during transport.

Also concerning was the announcement that there would be a two-year delay (until February 2022) for full enforcement of the updated FWR intervals, including issuing large-scale fines, which is known to be the most effective form of enforcement when it comes to changing the actions of companies. This decision was intended to give the industry more time to adjust the shorter FWR intervals and to implement changes to infrastructure and marketing practices needed to meet the requirements. During this time, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) took a soft approach, focusing on educating people about the new requirements.

As the deadline for this two-year delay in full enforcement approaches, it is possible that further delays are being considered. Please join the VHS and other animal protection organizations and advocates in calling on the federal government to prioritize full enforcement of the farmed animal transport rules.

Take action

Please tell the Minister of Agriculture; the Minister of Health; and the President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to fully enforce the Transport of Animals regulations, including issuing appropriately sized fines.

This action has now ended

2579 people used this tool to send an email to decision-makers. Thank you for taking action!

See more campaigns
Categories
Opinion Editorial

It’s time to boycott the dairy industry

A close up of a dairy cow's face

Article originally published on Daily Hive.

The clock has been ticking in the dairy industry for a while, and a recent public scandal may be the time bomb that draws the dairy milk era to a close.

Footage leaked by Animal Justice shows cows being ruthlessly beaten and tormented allegedly at Cedar Valley Farms, a dairy farm in Abbotsford.

In the heartbreaking video, workers hit cornered cows in the face with canes; mother cows wail hauntingly and are kicked in the face by employees as their babies are roughly grabbed by their fragile legs, tossed into wheelbarrows, and rolled away to the slaughterhouse or to be raised for the same cruel fate.

While this blatant cruelty is the worst I have seen, it’s unfortunately nothing new. Animal abuse and suffering are endemic in the dairy industry. To fully understand why that is, we need to go back to the last headline-making video leak from a BC dairy farm.

In 2014, hidden cameras at Canada’s largest dairy farm in Chilliwack revealed horrific abuses. Video footage showed cows being punched, kicked, and beaten with chains and rakes; left to suffer with open wounds and without desperately needed veterinary care; and lifted up by their necks using chains and tractors.

In the ensuing public outcry, the eight employees involved were fired and many faced animal cruelty charges.

The incident prompted a more in-depth look into the dairy industry as a whole. Soon after, the National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Code of Practice, which outlines appropriate treatment of the animals used on farms, was incorporated into legislation in BC. The industry also implemented a system of inspections to ensure farmers were complying with the regulations.

In droves, they weren’t.

Within the first 18 months of the new system being implemented, 27 percent of farms failed the inspections and required corrective action; 10 percent were still deemed non-compliant upon their follow-up inspection. Findings described farms with inadequate space for cows, including during the stressful birthing process; extremely limited access to feed troughs; wet and dirty pens; and cows showing such severe signs of lameness that they had to be euthanized.

At the time, industry leaders placated questioning consumers with supposed reasons for the non-compliance: farm owners simply didn’t know about the regulations or new methods. They floated goals of improved education, spot checks, and the ever-effective “peer pressure” to improve conditions.

It has been seven years since the dairy industry began conducting inspections with the goal of improving consumers’ confidence in the food they purchase. By now, the typical dairy buyer would expect the industry to have ironed out any kinks in their system. The most recent video leak has thrown a wrench directly into that carefully curated trust.

This year’s footage from Cedar Valley Farms is yet another reminder of what happens when sentient animals are treated as commodities for profit – “cash cows” in the most literal sense of the word.

It has revealed to consumers that cruelty is still rampant, that an organic label on an animal-based product doesn’t necessarily indicate an ethical purchase, and that ultimately the dairy industry cannot be trusted to self-regulate.

Consumer trust is hard to build when you can’t know if the animals whose bodies produced the milk were treated with respect. The milk used for commercial dairy products is typically “pooled” in BC, meaning if you purchase products like cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, or butter from the grocery store, it’s virtually impossible to tell which farm they came from.

There is also increasing awareness about the suffering inherent in the production of dairy. Cows don’t produce milk all the time; they produce it for their young, like humans and any other mammal. In order to ensure a consistent milk supply, the dairy industry repeatedly impregnates cows and removes their calves as early as just after birth. Calves reared without their mothers experience unnatural behavioural changes and drink far less milk from a bottle than they would otherwise. Their mothers experience an increased risk of mastitis when suckling is not allowed. Then, when the cows are no longer productive, they are typically sent to be slaughtered for meat between two and six years old. Their life expectancy outside of the industry is 15 to 20 years.

The dairy industry has been given endless chances to change for the better, and they have failed to do so again and again. Of course they have – there is money to be made in the status quo.

What this industry fails to realize is that humans do not need animal-based dairy. It is not a necessary part of the human diet, and all the nutrients it provides are found in other foods. With the increasing shift toward plant-based eating, there is a wider variety of delicious animal-free alternatives than ever.

Time is up for the dairy industry’s endless journey of supposed self-improvement. In a consumer society, only consumer action will spark a change. Only when people start reaching for oat milk instead of 2% or canola oil instead of butter will we see a breakthrough in the treatment of farmed animals. It’s time to vote with our wallets. It’s time to boycott animal-based dairy products.