He kindly tells my daughter to “Have a good day, sweetie!” He waits as she climbs down the steps and hops off. While she scampers up the driveway, he closes the door and drives off.
As I watch him pull away, I can’t help but think that man has a heart of gold and 10 times more patience than the average person can muster.
All of his passengers are only 4 and 5 years old. Based upon the stories I hear from the bus, I can’t help but draw some reference to Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding.
In the book, a group of boys stranded on an island try to govern themselves. On Dave’s bus, the children are fairly free to figure out their own way of the world.
Dave’s responsibility is to transport them safely. With his eyes on the road, he cannot be overly concerned with the shenanigans taking place in the seats behind him.
As long as the children remain seated and stay fairly quiet, they can carry on as they please. That is the advantage of having a trustworthy, responsible person driving the bus.
Dave brings years of experience to this position and seems to effortlessly handle a task that would drive most people crazy. He is the right person to be driving that bus.
When it comes to the topic of animal welfare (where the discussions can be as crazy as a bus full of 4- and 5-year-olds), who do you think should be driving the bus?
Should it be the consumer who has an avid interest in where their food comes from? Should it be the processors who aim to please consumers? Should it be the animal rights organizations because they claim to have animal interests at heart?
I believe the right people to drive the animal welfare bus are those who have experience in working with animals every day. In Canada, that is the case. It started with the writing of the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle and has continued with the animal welfare portion of the proAction Initiative.
Earlier this year, dairy producers across the country volunteered to participate in a pilot program to test the assessment program for the animal care module.
These producers sat in the driver’s seat, as their constructive feedback from this process will be taken into consideration as the final program is written and presented at the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual general meeting this summer.
With dairy producers continuing to drive the bus on animal welfare, everyone should be able to rest assured it will safely arrive at its final destination.
When all passengers, from consumers to other dairy producers, step off the bus, hopefully they will be just as pleased as the small children arriving home at the end of their school day. PD
Illustration by Fredric Ridenour.
- Karen Lee
- Editor
- Progressive Dairyman
