| New animal welfare tool could beef up red Tractor The standardised system of direct observation of animal wellbeing could eventually be incorporated into the Red Tractor scheme to beef up its animal welfare credentials. By July 2012 all their dairy inspections will include these new welfare assessments. "Working with Red Tractor instantly means we are working along with the majority of dairy farmers in the United Kingdom which could potentially have a massive impact on dairy cow welfare," he said. AssureWel has been working with Red Tractor, which assures 95 per cent of the milk produced in Great Britain, and, subject to final consultation, are working towards the inclusion of core AssureWel measures into all Red Tractor dairy assessments. Inspectors from RSPCA's Freedom Food and the Soil Association will now undergo training in the AssureWel welfare measures for dairy cows. Mike Madders, Staffordshire dairy farmer and chairman of the Red Tractor Dairy Scheme said: "We still have lots to do but we have made excellent progress in our aim to introduce welfare outcome assessment into Red Tractor dairy thanks to our work with AssureWel. ". For the past year this new system has been used on Soil Association and RSPCA Freedom Food approved laying hen farms, which make up 97 per cent of the non-caged laying hen industry. Anna Fraser, RSPCA scientific officer in the Farm Animals Department, said: "The AssureWel assessment is a fast, simple way of measuring animal well-being. Dr. Dr Alison Bond, animal welfare project officer at the Soil Association, said:"It is clear that industry harmonisation on animal welfare assessment is needed and we believe AssureWel offers the vehicle to help do that. |
Thursday, 7 June 2012
New animal welfare tool could beef up red Tractor
