Win the public back on animal welfare
By Dairy Herd staff
| Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tail-docking the tails of dairy cows would be illegal under a bill approved Tuesday by the California Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture.The bill now moves on to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
If passed by the full Senate,
It goes to show that things could be decided for the dairy industry externally if the dairy industry doesn’t go on the offensive more when it comes to animal welfare.
At the National Dairy Leaders Conference last week, several speakers encouraged dairy farmers to become more involved in this effort.
“We need to connect with the public on shared values and ethics rather than just demonstrating our competency,” said Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Intregrity.
The public doesn’t care if there’s scientific evidence behind what you do, or whether it’s good for business (e.g., the animals produce more milk when they are comfortable). The public simply wants to know that you care about the animals, several speakers noted.
Gatz Riddell, executive vice president of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, agreed that the dairy industry needs to do a better job of presenting itself to the public.
The public needs to know who dairy farmers are and that they consider it a moral imperative and ethical responsibility that animals are well-cared-for, he said.
Quoting a remark originally made by Jacqueline Klippenstein of Dairy Farmers of America, one speaker said, “We need to humanize farmers the same way the activists are humanizing animals.”
