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Animal agriculture big business for animal rights activists
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Undercover videos are rapidly becoming the go-to method of swaying public opinion for animal rights groups By Jennifer Blair af staff / red deer
S
ecurity personnel at the door at the Egg Farmers of Alberta annual general meeting in Red Deer were a stark sign of how the world has changed for the livestock sector. Four months after an undercover video scandal rocked Canada’s egg industry, security officials were keeping a wary eye out for protesters and allowing in only those who had been given the green light by Egg Farmers’ staff. It’s the new norm for Alberta’s egg industry, said board chair Ben Waldner. “Navigating the new reality is what it’s all about,” he said. “We’ve never had to do this before, but it’s the way we’re going to be doing business from now on.” Geraldine Austin, an agriculture management consultant based in B.C., applauded the group’s efforts to bar activists from the meeting. “It seems a real shame that (the egg industry) would be the target for some sort of activism,” she said in her presentation about activism trends in Canada. Producers can expect animal rights groups to increase their “attack on public confidence in animal products” and livestock handling, she said. “(Animal rights activists) have their own agenda,” she said. “And farming isn’t on their agenda.”
Egg farmers at the meeting also got a glimpse into how big the animal rights business has become. Humane Society International, based in Washington but also Canada’s biggest animal rights player, brought in $9.3 million in revenue for 2012. Its U.S. parent, the Humane Society of the United States raises more than $120 million every year. Less than one per cent of that is used for animal care, said Kay Johnson Smith, president of Animal Agriculture Alliance in the U.S. “It spends $25 million every year on lobbying and legislative campaigns — campaigns to disparage agriculture,” Johnson Smith said. “It spends $20 million just to fundraise to bring in the other $100 million. “It’s a big industry, and they have a very big budget dedicated to ending our industry and ending your livelihood.” But activism isn’t really about farmer practices or even animal welfare, said Austin. “It’s not about improving welfare practices,” she said. “Don’t expect that they’ll go away because you did what they asked you to. They keep moving that bar to make it impossible for you to do business.” Farming, transporting and processing livestock are all targets for animal rights groups. “Just about anything you would do with your animals, those are all items that are being watched and criticized.”
A great grey owl perches on an aspen branch, near Millarville, Alta. The largest of North America’s owls, it can sense movement of mice and moles beneath the snow, diving to grab its prey. Photo: Wendy Dudley
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