Ontario livestock groups reach agreement with OSPCA

Monday, February 3, 2014

Several Ontario livestock groups have recently inked agreements with the OSPCA that they hope will smooth the way to better handling of animal care complaints

by JOE CALLAHAN

Ontario Pork is the most recent in a growing list of farm organizations to enter into agreements with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) about the process for investigating complaints related to animal care.

In just over a year, OSPCA agreements have been reached with Beef Farmers of Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Ontario and Chicken Farmers of Ontario. However, all of the commodity groups that have formal agreements with the OSPCA declined to share copies of them with Better Farming.

In a Nov. 5 news release, Ontario Pork says the organizations will "work together to address concerns of animal abuse or neglect. Ontario Pork will provide technical assistance to Ontario SPCA officers in cases where inadequate animal care may be occurring on swine farms."

Stephanie Cottee, the commodity organization's provincial programs co-ordinator, says the decision to formulate an agreement was prompted by concerns raised from pork producers at its annual general meeting in March. "They wanted peer review committees to jointly investigate animal welfare complaints," she says.

Cottee explains that Ontario pork producers felt that OSPCA inspectors might not be completely educated in matters related to swine when investigating complaints.

The agreement also states that Ontario Pork and OSPCA will jointly hold annual sessions to exchange information related to on-farm animal care and code of practice issues.

Oliver Haan, producer and director of Zone 4 with Ontario Pork, says the agreement is a "must-have," is welcomed and is an important step in reducing the tension between producers and inspectors.   

"It gives us a chance to address some of these concerns beforehand," says Haan. "It gives us a chance to have a fellow producer . . . ensure that there is indeed a concern."

Haan, who owns Haanover View Farms, a closed-herd pork operation in Tyendinaga, explains that often concerns expressed by the public are the result of misunderstandings and that sometimes OSPCA inspectors don't have the experience to know what is normal practice on the farm.

"Personally, I take a bit of comfort in the knowledge that you will be reviewed by your peers prior to an inspector coming in," says Haan. "The OSPCA is very clear in what it wants. It has a mandate to ensure the well-being of animals and that's not a lot different from what we, as producers, are committed to."

Brad Dewar, OSPCA investigations communications officer, described the agreement as a partnership. "If there are any concerns, we're able to address those in a more efficient manner," said Dewar. Crystal Mackay, executive director of Farm and Food Care Ontario, says that the new agreements formalize what has been in place in relationships with farm organizations in the past and speaks to the value of ongoing training for OSPCA staff.

"The more training, knowledge and expertise the SPCA has, the better," says Mackay. "That's the difference between People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and a group like ours or a farm group. If there are animal care problems, we want to be part of the solution. We want to have people on the ground who have actually worked with cattle, pigs or chickens who can actually be there to help."

Richard Horne, Beef Farmers of Ontario's policy advisor, says his organization followed the actions of Dairy Farmers of Ontario (which developed an agreement in March 2012) in attempting to work with the OSPCA in collaborative manner.

"We were the first non-supply-managed commodity to get on board and sign our own agreement," says Horne.

Horne points out that the supply-managed commodity group inspectors have the right to go onto farm property to investigate complaints, whereas Beef Farmers of Ontario field representatives do not.

The new Beef Farmers' agreement with the OSPCA, approved by its board in October, states that beef industry representatives will accompany OSPCA inspectors to provide perspective and clarity on standards of care and help determine if what inspectors find is a normal farm practice or not.

"The point is to reduce inspection tension and to assist the OSPCA inspectors in their inspection," said Horne.

Gwen Zellen, vice president of food quality, operations and risk management at the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, says that her organization initiated the establishment of its agreement with the OSPCA in 2012. It was signed in March 2013.

"It didn't happen as quickly as we had hoped, but we did then develop a partnership and documented it in a Memorandum of Agreement," she said.

Zellen explains that the agreement doesn't change anyone's authority, but sharing resources and expertise with the OSPCA is important.

"We've done a couple of training sessions with their inspectors because they don't have the expertise in poultry production," said Zellen. "We go through our animal care program so that they are aware of what we do."

Bill Mitchell, spokesperson for Egg Farmers of Ontario, says that discussions are ongoing, but it does not currently have a formal memorandum of understanding with the OSPCA. BF