The National Milk Producers Federation has joined the Center for Food Integrity and the U.S. pork sector to jointly launch “See It? Stop It! Animal care starts with you,” a proactive demonstration of agriculture’s commitment to farm animal care.
The initiative empowers, and in fact, demands that if signs of animal abuse, neglect, mishandling or harm are witnessed, anyone working on a farm or in a farm setting has an obligation to report it immediately.
Though it is uncommon, when animal abuse, neglect, harm or mistreatment takes place, it is essential to give animal care providers resources to swiftly report what they witness.
The “See It? Stop It!” initiative provides several options to enable employees to speak up to stop animal abuse. Ultimately, empowering animal caretakers and giving them responsibility to report animal abuse immediately will help assure the best care for animals.
Betsy Flores, NMPF’s senior director of animal health and welfare, stated, “Care of animals could not be more important to farmers. Having a system in place to contact any of several authorities is imperative, and ‘See it? Stop it!’ provides that resource.
"This initiative combines well with the dairy industry’s National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management to ensure the well-being of animals in our care.”
The initiative demonstrates to the public that farmers are committed to good animal care and calls on anyone who witnesses abuse to stop it immediately. This includes those who are on farms to videotape animal production activities.
Stopping and reporting abuse quickly is the right thing to do for animals, and it demonstrates that those involved in livestock production understand their obligation to provide sound animal care. Demonstrating this commitment is important to maintaining public trust in today’s animal agriculture.
“As the nation’s oldest animal protection organization, the American Humane Association (AHA) has a long history of involvement with programs that help assure proper animal care,” said Kathi Brock, national director of the farm animal program for AHA.
“It is critical for farm management to set clear expectations for animal care and to have zero tolerance for animal mistreatment. We believe ‘See It? Stop It!’ provides the tools to help set those expectations and a mechanism for reporting abuse which supports the proper care of America’s farm animals.”
“Those in agriculture are understandably frustrated by undercover videos. The actions of a few captured on video can taint public perception of the entire livestock community. Taking action to stop abuse demonstrates a genuine commitment to do what’s right for the animals on farms,” said Roxi Beck of the Center for Food Integrity, which is a not-for-profit corporation established to build consumer trust and confidence in the today’s food system.
CFI’s members, who represent every segment of the food system, are committed to providing accurate information and addressing important issues among all food system stakeholders.
It is the duty of farm leaders to convey the level of commitment they have to responsible animal care, while empowering employees who work with or around animals to immediately report any signs of animal abuse, neglect, harm or mistreatment.
Additional information about the farm animal care initiative is available online, including an employer checklist, guidance for integrating the program into existing animal well-being programs and posters for use in barns and guidance on employee training. PD
—From NMPF news release
