About $4.6 million has been spent updating codes of animal welfare in Canada.
The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada funding is intended to improve the care and handling of farm animals.
Updating included transportation codes of practice for all animals, dairy codes that account for industry changes and consumer demands, goat handling codes, with development of a new code for farmed fish to respond to consumer concerns.
The new codes were developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in consultation with stakeholders.
The objective is ensuring animals are properly prepared for transport, arrive at a destination safely, are suitably fed and watered. The CFIA notes that 98 per cent of shipments are in compliance with the new regulations.
The new regulations, effective in February 2020, will allow the industry one year to comply before fully enforced.
The Health of Animals Act regulation development involved 51,000 comments from 11,000 stakeholders in the industry from producers, veterinarians, processors, lawyers to animal rights organizations.
The agriculture industry provides $25 billion a year income to the country.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
