Emphasis is mine.............
Colorado pork producers will transition to group sow housing
Pork producers in Colorado announced Tuesday that they will begin to phase in group-housing systems for gestating sows during the next 10 years. More than 90 percent of the sows in Colorado will be impacted by this management change. Some of the state's larger pork production systems include M2P2, Seaboard Farms, Midwest Farms, Murphy-Brown and Teague Diversified. Ivan Steinke, executive director of the Colorado Pork Producers Council, said public concerns and changing market conditions are reasons the state's pork producers have signed off on this direction. "Our producers felt this was a proactive step," Steinke says. "A 10-year phase-in will allow producers to thoroughly evaluate and determine the best animal welfare practices for group housing. Producers may need to reconfigure their farms, acquire new equipment and staff differently in order to provide the best animal care with group-housing systems." For more on this story, follow this link.
Colorado has been tabbed as the next battleground by animal activists for a gestation-sow housing ballot initiative similar to those in Florida and Arizona. The Humane Society of the United States was behind those initiatives, and the group is believed to have similar plans in Colorado. Following Tuesday's announcement by Colorado producers, HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle said his organization "applauds" the transition. "There are nearly 150,000 breeding sows in gestation crates in Colorado, and they deserve some semblance of basic humane treatment such as the ability to turn around and extend their limbs." Pacelle also called on other sectors of agribusiness to adopt similar humane production practices. To read the HSUS statement, go to http://www.drovers.com.
Gestation crates, however, serve a purpose. And however well-intentioned the move to eliminate those crates, their absence will cause pain and suffering to hogs in Colorado. One Ohio pork producer was "shocked" by Colorado's announcement and asked, “How humane is it to watch sows that are within a week of farrowing bite open each other’s swollen vulvas? How humane is it for sows to fight for 24 to 48 hours when they are put in the pen for the first time? I can tell these Colorado producers are all a bunch of ex-cattle producers who think you can mix a pen of sows like you can mix a pen of cattle."
The bigger issue that worries livestock groups, of course, is the potential domino effect. The goal of groups like HSUS and PETA is to eliminate animal agriculture. Their plan is to force change in tiny increments. That's why they've tackled gestation crates first in Florida, then in Arizona — states with relatively small pork industries. The next steps are the elimination of caged poultry, then abolishing cattle feedlots. If you don't believe their agenda is that radical, PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk says she seeks "total animal liberation," and that means no meat or dairy, aquariums, circuses, hunting or fishing, fur or leather, or medical research using animals, even if human lives can be saved. PETA is even opposed to the use of seeing-eye dogs. — Greg Henderson, Drovers edtior
Colorado pork producers will transition to group sow housing
Pork producers in Colorado announced Tuesday that they will begin to phase in group-housing systems for gestating sows during the next 10 years. More than 90 percent of the sows in Colorado will be impacted by this management change. Some of the state's larger pork production systems include M2P2, Seaboard Farms, Midwest Farms, Murphy-Brown and Teague Diversified. Ivan Steinke, executive director of the Colorado Pork Producers Council, said public concerns and changing market conditions are reasons the state's pork producers have signed off on this direction. "Our producers felt this was a proactive step," Steinke says. "A 10-year phase-in will allow producers to thoroughly evaluate and determine the best animal welfare practices for group housing. Producers may need to reconfigure their farms, acquire new equipment and staff differently in order to provide the best animal care with group-housing systems." For more on this story, follow this link.
Colorado has been tabbed as the next battleground by animal activists for a gestation-sow housing ballot initiative similar to those in Florida and Arizona. The Humane Society of the United States was behind those initiatives, and the group is believed to have similar plans in Colorado. Following Tuesday's announcement by Colorado producers, HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle said his organization "applauds" the transition. "There are nearly 150,000 breeding sows in gestation crates in Colorado, and they deserve some semblance of basic humane treatment such as the ability to turn around and extend their limbs." Pacelle also called on other sectors of agribusiness to adopt similar humane production practices. To read the HSUS statement, go to http://www.drovers.com.
Gestation crates, however, serve a purpose. And however well-intentioned the move to eliminate those crates, their absence will cause pain and suffering to hogs in Colorado. One Ohio pork producer was "shocked" by Colorado's announcement and asked, “How humane is it to watch sows that are within a week of farrowing bite open each other’s swollen vulvas? How humane is it for sows to fight for 24 to 48 hours when they are put in the pen for the first time? I can tell these Colorado producers are all a bunch of ex-cattle producers who think you can mix a pen of sows like you can mix a pen of cattle."
The bigger issue that worries livestock groups, of course, is the potential domino effect. The goal of groups like HSUS and PETA is to eliminate animal agriculture. Their plan is to force change in tiny increments. That's why they've tackled gestation crates first in Florida, then in Arizona — states with relatively small pork industries. The next steps are the elimination of caged poultry, then abolishing cattle feedlots. If you don't believe their agenda is that radical, PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk says she seeks "total animal liberation," and that means no meat or dairy, aquariums, circuses, hunting or fishing, fur or leather, or medical research using animals, even if human lives can be saved. PETA is even opposed to the use of seeing-eye dogs. — Greg Henderson, Drovers edtior
