The debate over the use of sow stalls has heated up again.

Earlier this week, the Winnipeg Humane Society met with top officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, and presented them with a petition containing over 10 thousand signatures calling for a ban of sow stalls, or gestation crates, in Manitoba.

However, people working in hog barns continue to say that when it comes to animal health, sow stalls are still the best option.

"I've raised hogs outside. I've had sows outside. I've had sows inside. I've had them in loose pens. I've had the opportunity to raise the animals in every way possible and so far, out of everything I've done, the crate has been the best system to raise them," says Karl Kynoch, Baldur-area hog producer and chair of the Manitoba Pork Council. "Even though I say that, we will definitely continue to explore new opportunities going forward, but for the time being, we will continue to give our animals the best care possible."

"A producer has no problem raising pigs in any way the public wants them, providing the public is prepared to pay for that product, and providing that however they're asking us to raise them delivers the best animal care possible," he says.

"A lot of the problem is that people don't understand fully why we use the sow stalls. Right now it is the best way that we can work with our animals to give them the best care and best health status."

Kynoch explains there are a number of basic reasons why stalls are used.

"We're not dealing with small animals here. This isn't Fluffy the cat who just lays on the couch. We're dealing with very large animals that can have a lot of aggression. We have to be able to manage that aggression that they have when they go against each other," he explains. "Another reason is that we can individually treat every animal and give them the best care that we can possibly provide for them."

"We don't want to move to anything else until we can actually find something better. The one thing we don't want to do is just to go out and do what the Humane Society is asking for and come out with a lower level of care for the animals," says Kynoch.

Listen to Karl Kynoch on the Manitoba Farm Journal:

 

 

~ Friday, November 26, 2010 ~