What do the experts think? Highlights from Expert Statements

Transcription

1 What do the experts think? Highlights from Expert Statements Independent, nationally and world-renowned academic and professional experts in wildlife, animal behavior and veterinary medicine reviewed the video footage obtained at fur farms across Canada, with a specific focus on the conditions in which they animals are housed (that is to say typical mink and fox cages used in fur farms throughout North America). Below are highlights from their statements: Sherri Cox, DMV Sherri Cox, DVM, MBA is a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, Canada. She focuses on native wildlife and assists wildlife rehabilitators with patients in their care. Dr. Cox also teaches at wildlife rehabilitation conferences and supervises wildlife biology, veterinary and veterinary technician students interested in wildlife medicine. The video and images provided of mink and foxes on various fur farms are disturbing. The horrific conditions of the animals physical environment and apparent state of health are unacceptable. Basic food and water alone do not mean that humane treatment and acceptable conditions exist. Water, if present, appears filthy from feces or unattainable in the cases of many foxes. Stereotypic behaviour pacing incessantly in their small cages suggest animals are frustrated. Preventing normal behaviours and lack of environmental enrichment contribute to stress of captive animals. Rusted, broken wire-flooring can lead to serious injuries to feet and toes. Having grid or wire-mesh flooring as the only substrate in cages for prolonged periods not only can lead to foot lesions, including fractured toes, it can also affect animals normal behaviours such as foraging and nesting. Sharp-edged and rusted water bowls (if present) for foxes can also lead to injury. Mink cannibalizing cage mates, evidence of self-mutilation and the overall suffering of animals from multiple injuries depicted in the videos is an animal welfare concern. Stefan Harsch, DMV Dr. Harsch is a veterinarian specializing in wildlife emergency and trauma medicine. He graduated 1998 from the Free University in Berlin, Germany. After passing the US licensing program for foreign trained veterinarians in 2005, he joined the South Florida Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale FL as a staff veterinarian. He has served for 7 years as the Director of Veterinary Services at SFWC, one of the nation s largest wildlife hospitals run by the Humane Society of the US. In April he transferred to its sister facility on Cape Cod, the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable MA. Minks are solitary semiaquatic animals with large territories to roam. Besides filthy water bowls there is no access to a water source in a way these animals can live their natural behaviors. Confinement in such small wire cages in close proximity to other animals and the denial of any enrichment in the enclosure causes significant stress and leads to the pathologic behavior patterns observed in the video. Stereotypic behaviors like continuously circling and jumping up the cage wall, biting the wires are a clear sign of stress and suffering. The filthy environment with decomposing feces piled under and even inside the cages adds another level of stress to these confined animals. The significant ammonia levels originating from the feces in this

2 overcrowded environment most certainly cause irritation of the mucous membranes and could even reach toxic levels. Minks have highly developed sense of smell, exposing these animals to such noxious fumes can only be considered cruel. Additionally, the immediate contact to feces from different animals as shown in the footage will inevitably lead to parasite infestation. Sara Dubois, PhD Dr. Sara Dubois is the Chief Scientific Officer of the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and has worked for the BC SPCA since Dr. Dubois directs province-wide animal welfare science operations, education and advocacy projects for the Society. Her academic qualifications include a Biology BSc, Animal Science MSc, and Animal Science PhD. Dr. Dubois serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia s Animal Welfare Program and as an Associate Academic at the Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Dr. Dubois areas of expertise are rooted in wildlife welfare and relevant public policy and legislation, but her role also aims to develop relationships with academia and advocate for animals used in science. She works on diverse issues from wildlife rehabilitation and oil spill response, to captive wild animal management, exotic pets, urban wildlife conflict, and compassionate conservation and assists in wildlife cruelty investigations. The following statement is based on my professional opinion in viewing video footage of fur farms in Canada. Although the location of the farms are unknown, the video footage overall appears consistent with the general practices that I observed on a BC fur farm in summer Note, there are no fox farms in the province, and thus my observational experience is limited to mink farming. In terms of welfare, there was no appropriate manipulative enrichment in any cages and many cages had no platform/hammock/shelf as required by the NFACC Code of Practice for Care and Handling of Farmed Mink. Stereotypies are present in numerous animals, and can be seen regardless of being housed singly, in pairs, or in family groups. Overcrowding of juvenile animals past the period for separation was observed and is a great concern for heat exhaustion, aggression, and injury. Observations from the video and from experience confirm that these farms are not meeting current Codes of Practice. Even if farms meet the lowest required minimum cage density, individual animal movement is restricted. Other concerns that may be present in the video, but would need confirmation by visual and medical examination, include: emaciation, obesity, and illness due to Aleutian disease. Although a few of the above husbandry concerns can be addressed by the Codes of Practice, as a farmed species that is still wild in its nature, the generally accepted practices can never fully meet the welfare needs for mink. This is a semi-aquatic carnivorous species with a daily activity budget that is mostly allocated to swimming and hunting. Therefore, even if a legally acceptable standard of industry practice is achieved, the industry will remain inherently inhumane Sara Shields, PhD Dr. Sara Shields holds a doctorate in animal behavior from the University of California-Davis and has over a decade of experience as a researcher, teacher and consultant in farm animal behavior and welfare science. She is currently the Behavior and Welfare Specialist for Humane Society International. The footage shows fox and mink in cages on fur farms. Both species are highly intelligent, social, energetic animals that would normally spend considerable time roaming, exploring, hunting and patrolling a vast territory in the wild. The deprived conditions in which these animals are seen in the video do not meet their behavioral needs. For example, mink are semi-aquatic

3 animals and need water for swimming, and research has demonstrated that mink are stressed when denied access to this vital resource. Further, the cages shown are dirty and overcrowded and do not provide enough individual space. Due to the un-enriched, restricted space, many of the animals have begun to display stereotypic behavior, a type of abnormal, repetitive, invariant movement pattern that develops when animals are confined to environments that do not meet their behavioral needs. Stereotypies are outward signs of frustration, distress and neurological pathology. Considering the changing social climate on animal welfare, the public s moral outrage at fur farming, and the alternatives to fur products that are widely available, it is unconscionable that animals are still being kept this way. Through ongoing ethology research, we simply know too much about the welfare of farmed animals to permit this to continue. Mary Richardson, DVM For over 20 years, Dr. Richardson has been involved in animal welfare issues. She chaired the Animal Welfare Committee for the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association and produced policy statements on a wide range of topics. Dr. Richardson also served as chair of the Animal Care Review Board for the Solicitor General of Ontario, during which time she presided over court cases involving animal abuse. She was also a board member of the Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph. Dr. Richardson states: ``After reviewing the fur farm footage and images documenting the conditions of mink and fox on fur farms in Canada, I have serious concerns regarding the animals' welfare. The conditions that these mink and foxes are kept in are certainly inhumane and unacceptable. True humane conditions involve more than simply providing food, water and basic shelter in order for an animal to survive they involve ensuring animals are able to express natural behaviors, given veterinary care and have their physiological needs met.`` Debi Zimmermann, DVM Dr. Zimmermann graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in In addition to her doctoral degree, she holds a degree in biology with a specialization in zoology (University of Alberta). She is a member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, the Edmonton Small Animal Veterinary Association and the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management. Dr. Zimmermann writes: This footage clearly shows that Canadian farmed fox and mink can and do suffer significantly in numerous ways. The current standards written into the Codes inadequately address animal welfare by denying opportunities for the expression of natural behaviors by fox and mink. The idea that welfare is related to naturalness is implicit in the scientific approach to using animal biology in understanding and evaluating animal welfare. That being said, we need to consider if there will ever be a way to accommodate an essentially wild animal s natural biology sufficiently to be ethical and humane. Several European countries have found the answer to this question to be No, and have banned fur farming altogether. Marc Bekoff, PhD Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., is a former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has won many awards for his scientific research including the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Marc has written more than

4 800 articles, numerous books, and has edited three encyclopedias. Marc's main areas of research include animal behavior, cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), behavioral ecology, and compassionate conservation. The animals depicted in this footage are unable to meet their basic physiological and psychological needs due to the unacceptable restrictions of cage sizes and horrific conditions of their confinement. The toll it takes on their emotional lives and physical well-being is immeasurable. It is shocking to know that current laws allow this to happen every day in what is called a 'civilized' society. Olivier Berreville, PhD Dr. Berreville holds a doctorate in biology from Dalhousie University. Having grown up around farmed animals in Europe, he has also acquired field experience documenting the confinement, transportation and slaughter of animals in Canada. He has presented on various aspects of farmed animal welfare at universities, institutes and conferences. Dr. Berreville states: This random sample of conditions on Canadian fur farms raises significant animal welfare concerns regarding generally accepted practices, and lack of oversight, within the Canadian fur industry. In all of these facilities, animals were raised in filthy and completely unnatural conditions which cannot meet even the very basic biological requirements of the animals. Moreover, the frequency of stereotypical behaviours and untreated, severe injuries is alarming, indicating widespread psychological distress and suffering among animals raised on Canadian fur farms. Mary Klinck, DMV, ACBV Mary Klinck is a 2001 graduate of the Atlantic Veterinary College of the University of Prince Edward Island. She has worked in veterinary practice with companion animals, large animals, and exotic animals. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, having done her residency in Veterinary Behavioral Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (2008). Currently, she is completing a PhD in Veterinary Science at the Université de Montréal. Her contributions to animal welfare have included consultations with animal shelters on maximising animal welfare and on behaviour problem management, consultation on modifications to legislation concerning dog and cat welfare, participation in the establishment of welfare certification programs for dog and cat breeders, and lecturing in the areas of Animal Behaviour, Animal Pain, Animal Welfare, and Veterinary Ethics. This video footage shows animals living in unacceptable conditions that do not support their physical wellbeing (comfort, absence of pain or disease). Many of the buildings, enclosures, cages, and food and water bowls, are filthy, often with extreme accumulations of faeces in or around the cages, and sometimes with such accumulations in the water/food bowls. In addition, almost all cages had full wire floors, which do not permit a normal foot posture and likely cause discomfort at best, and injury or lameness at worst. The conditions observable in the videos also involve more subtle environmental problems, and evidence of their adverse effects on the mental wellbeing of the animals. In general, the environments are barren. With the exception of hide or nest boxes, and occasionally straw or the presence of other animals, there appears to be nothing done to provide the animals with any choice with respect to their activities. Mink, in particular, are also kept in exceeding small cages, often too small for the animal to stretch out fully (standing on the hind limbs or on all fours) without touching the tops and sides of the cages. Where multiple animals are housed together (theoretically proving social enrichment),

5 there is inadequate space for them to avoid physical contact with each other, and in the videos of females with their offspring, it appears that the mothers cannot remove themselves (even temporarily) from their kits. THE WELFARE OF ANIMALS KEPT FOR FUR PRODUCTION Report of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare requested by the European Commission on Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General. Adopted in The typical mink cage with a next box and wire mesh floors impairs mink welfare because it does not provide for important needs. Particular problems are limited locomotor and stimulatory possibilities, lack of opportunity to climb, go into tunnels or swim, and inability to avoid social contact. Conclusion p.116 The typical fox cage does not provide for the important needs of foxes. In particular, it imposes monotony of the physical environment, restricts physical exercise and species-specific behavior such as digging. In relation to lack of exercise, limb bones are significantly weaker than those of foxes kept in large cages where more exercise occurs. Conclusion p.151