Tag: Past campaigns

• The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Pig Code of Practice, last updated in 2014, was up for review until June 4, 2025.
• The code of practice serves as a guideline for the on-farm care and handling of pigs raised in Canada.  
• There are many significant welfare issues associated with the current pig code of practice, including: extreme confinement; lack of opportunities to engage in natural behaviour; lameness and injury; unnecessary painful procedures; and inhumane forms of on-farm euthanasia. 
• Hundreds of advocates spoke up for pigs, submitting their top welfare concerns with help from the VHS’s tip sheet.
• Keep an eye out for the next public feedback stage around fall 2026 to winter 2027, when NFACC will release specific updates for comment.

Thank you! The 5-minute survey to speak up for millions of pigs is now closed. 

Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Top welfare priorities

Extreme confinement 

Recommendation: End extreme confinement, including use of gestation and farrowing crates. 

Background: Gestation and farrowing crates are used to isolate and confine individual pigs who are pregnant (gestation crates) and ready to give birth and nurse piglets (farrowing crates).

Both types of enclosures are so small and narrow that the mother pig can only stand up, lie down, and take a few steps forward or back, but cannot turn around. 

Click for image of gestation crates

On an industrial pig farm, a sow chews repetitively on the metal bars of her gestation crate while her neighbours drink accumulated water from a channel that runs in front of their enclosures. Sows confined inside these bare, concrete-floored enclosures can sit, stand and lie down, but they cannot walk or turn around. Quebec, Canada, 2022. 

Lack of space & enrichment 

Recommendation: Require more space and species-specific enrichment opportunities to engage in natural behaviours. 

Background: Inadequate space and overcrowding can contribute to stress, aggression, injury and lameness and restrict the ability to engage in important natural behaviours.

Appropriate environmental enrichment is crucial for allowing pigs to express species-specific natural behaviours (e.g. rooting, chewing, exploring) and prevent boredom, stress and abnormal behaviours. Appropriate nesting materials are also a crucial form of enrichment for pregnant pigs. 

Click for image of a crowded industrial pig farm

Young pigs live in compact pens inside this industrial farming facility. The windows open to the hallway and not to the outdoors, and investigators confirm that the pigs live in complete darkness except for when a farm hand enters the rooms. Canada, 2020.

Unnecessary painful procedures 

Recommendation: End painful procedures, such as castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and ear notching.  

Background: Pigs can experience acute and chronic pain during and after these unnecessary procedures. Current pain control requirements do not account for both acute and chronic pain. For instance, castration for piglets younger than 10 days of age requires the use of analgesics (for lasting relief), but anesthetics (for immediate pain) are only “recommended”.

Click for image of pigs with docked tails

Pigs can be seen with docked tails on an industrial farm. Tail docking of pigs does not require anesthetics for acute pain control. Canada, 2020.

Inhumane forms of euthanasia 

Recommendation: Ban euthanasia by blunt force trauma. 

Background: Blunt force trauma, usually striking the piglet’s head against a hard surface or with a blunt instrument, is an approved method of euthanizing piglets under the current code of practice. This unethical practice presents significant welfare risks and places an emotional burden on handlers. 

Click for image of piglets on a farm

Curious piglets look at one another from inside a small pen. The pig on the right is ill and thin. At this farm, there are no windows facing the exterior and the pigs live in darkness. Canada, 2020.

Lameness & injury 

Recommendation: Improve flooring, bedding and housing conditions to reduce lameness and injury. 

Background: Concrete, slatted flooring has been identified as a major contributor to lameness and injuries in pigs. Improved flooring requirements are needed to reduce the incidence of lameness and injury and to ensure pigs can move freely and lie down and rise comfortably.

Access to bedding, such as straw or shavings, can provide thermal comfort, cushioning and enrichment opportunities.  

Click for image of piglets on a slatted floor

Slatted floors can be seen in this pig farm that houses more than one thousand pigs in a windowless building. Investigators told We Animals Media they had visited this farm many times and confirmed that the lights inside the building were only turned on when people briefly entered to check on and feed the pigs. Canada, 2020.

• In a letter to the Canadian Senate, 30+ Canadian celebrities, 20+ veterinary and animal welfare experts, and more than a dozen animal advocacy organizations have called for an end to the cruel export of live horses abroad for slaughter.
• Bill C-355, which would ban the cruel practice, got through the House of Commons but has been stalled in the Senate since May.
• Recent investigations and Japanese government data show the suffering far exceeds what the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claims.  
• While the Senate delays action, horses continue to suffer and die as shipments continue.
• TAKE ACTION: Use the quick action tool below to send a message to Canadian Senators in your province, urging them to move forward with bill C-355 without further delay.

Join Canadian celebrities, experts and advocates in urging the Senate to stop the deadly delay.

Canadian icon and multi-platinum artist Jann Arden, along with a host of celebrity signatories including Bryan Adams, Chantal Kreviazuk, Elisha Cuthbert and Queen’s Brian May have penned a letter imploring Canada’s Senate to move forward with Bill C-355, the Prohibition of the Export of Horses by Air for Slaughter Act. The letter (which can be found here) also has strong support from the Canadian acting community, including stars in shows like Star Trek: Discovery, The Handmaid’s Tale, Workin’ Moms, and Heartland.

More than 20 veterinary and animal welfare experts, and more than a dozen animal advocacy organizations have also signed the letter urging senators to study and pass this lifesaving bill, which was passed by the House of Commons in May.

“Since 2006, tens of thousands of terrified horses have been crammed into shoddy wooden crates and flown 8,000 km to their demise, enduring turbulence, thirst and hunger, and abject fear,” said Jann Arden. “To say this practice is inhumane would be an understatement. Canadians want this to end.”

Bill C-355 was introduced last September by federal MP Tim Louis to end the abhorrent practice of shipping horses from Canada overseas to Japan for slaughter. The Bill is being delayed by a handful of Senators and has seen little progress in the Senate since May. The clock is ticking – if the bill is to become law it must pass before the next federal election.

Tens of thousands of Canadians have called and written to Senators, urging them to study and pass the bill. Yet as the legislation remains in limbo, these shipments continue to be sent overseas for slaughter, with horses enduring gruelling journeys. Most shipments appear to go over the legal limit of 28 hours without food, water, and rest.

Shipments continue despite the revelations uncovered through recent investigations by Animal Justice and Japan-based Life Investigation Agency. Based on Government of Japan records, between June 2023 and May 2024 alone, at least 21 horses exported for slaughter died during transport or in the hours and days shortly thereafter.

More than 50 others were injured or became seriously ill during this time. None of these injuries, illnesses, or deaths were reported to Canadian officials.

Bill C-355 reflects a promise made to Canadians during the last federal election, and enjoys broad public support across the political spectrum. With a pending election expected in 2025, Ms. Arden and the letter’s numerous other signatories are gravely concerned about the Senate’s delay in studying and ultimately passing this crucial legislation.

Cover photo: Canadian Horse Defence Coalition

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is looking for public feedback on proposed guidelines for how plant-based egg products can be labelled. 
• While the intention is to prevent false or misleading advertising of plant-based products, research shows that consumers find labelling of eggs from chickens confusing.
• TAKE ACTION: Your input is needed to help advocate for fair and transparent labelling standards among all egg products in Canada. Share your feedback in a quick email before the consultation deadline of October 28^th. 

Chicken egg product labelling is confusing and misleading  

A 2024 survey prepared by Bryant Research found that consumers are confused and misled by chicken egg labels and packaging.

Terms such as free-range, free-run, cage-free and enriched colony housing have no legal definitions. These terms, along with marketing tactics such as labels with images of happy hens frolicking in the grass, are misleading when compared to the on-farm conditions and methods of production.  

Egg product labelling should include welfare information and method of production 

Research shows that a majority of Canadian consumers think about animal welfare when deciding what eggs to purchase. The majority are willing to spend more when they believe the hens’ welfare is higher.  

Consumers and advocates are increasingly calling for in-store egg labelling that includes animal welfare and method of production (e.g. caged vs. cage-free) information.  

Fairness in labelling for ALL egg products 

Guidelines for plant-based egg labelling must be fair and not put plant-based products at a disadvantage to animal-based products. Efforts to prevent misleading advertising and improve transparency must apply to ALL egg products.  

10 minute survey

Have more time? You can learn more about the proposed guidance on plant-based egg labelling and submit your feedback via the online feedback questionnaire, which includes more questions.  

Update: The online questionnaire is now closed. Thank you to all who participated.

• The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Chicken and Turkey Code of Practice, which serves as a guideline for on-farm care and handling of birds raised for meat, is coming up for review for the first time since 2016.  
• A short public survey will help determine the top priorities for the code review. 
• The current code allows for many inhumane practices that compromise the welfare of chickens and turkeys in the poultry industry.   
• In 2023, more than 780 million chickens were raised and killed for meat in Canada, representing the vast majority of animals farmed for food nationwide. 

TAKE ACTION: Take the 5-minute survey to speak up for hundreds of millions of individual animals. 

Top welfare priorities

Overcrowding 

Lower the stocking density of birds on poultry farms and provide them with more space to move freely and exhibit natural behaviors. 

Overcrowding in chicken and turkey farms in Canada presents significant welfare and health concerns for the birds. Intensive farming practices, driven by the demand for low-cost poultry, often result in large numbers of birds confined to limited spaces.

For example, the average chicken farm in Canada houses 36,000 birds.

This high-density environment can lead to increased stress, aggressive behaviours, and the spread of diseases, which may necessitate the use of antibiotics and other interventions.

Furthermore, overcrowding compromises the birds’ ability to engage in natural behaviors, such as movement and foraging. This impacts their overall well-being. 

Fast-growing breeds 

Prohibit fast-growing breeds, in favour of higher-welfare breeds that grow more naturally. 

Breeding practices have led to fast-growing chicken and turkey breeds that amount to higher profits for producers but come at significant health and welfare costs for the birds. In 1950, it took 84 days for a chicken raised for meat to reach market weight. Today it takes 38 to 40 days.

The accelerated growth has been linked to skeletal deformities, heart problems, and reduced mobility, as these birds may struggle to support their own weight.  

Barren on-farm environments 

Improve on-farm conditions by requiring:

• access to outdoors;
• enrichment opportunities and materials, such as perches, pecking and foraging materials;
• natural light and darkness; and healthy air quality and litter.   

Intensive farming practices have increasingly led to chickens and turkeys being housed in barren barns, without access to natural light, outdoors, and enrichment opportunities that allow them to engage in important natural behaviours, such as perching, pecking, and foraging. They spend much of their short lives surrounded by their own waste, contributing to unhealthy conditions. 

Painful procedures 

Prohibit painful physical procedures, including beak and toe “trimming” and snood removal.

Common physical procedures on poultry farms, including beak and toe “trimming” and snood (fleshy area on a turkey’s beak) removal, are done to prevent feather pecking and other injuries in flocks. These invasive procedures are performed without pain control, which can lead to chronic pain and stress. 

Feather pecking and other injuries are often a result of intensive farming practices, including overcrowding, barren environments and lack of enrichment opportunities that allow birds to engage in natural behaviours.