See It? Stop It! Initiative Promotes Animal Well-Being

April 10, 2013 — 

Reaffirming its strong commitment to animal care and well-being, the National Pork Producers Council joined with the National Pork Board, the dairy industry and the Center for Food Integrity – a not-for-profit corporation that builds consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system – to launch an initiative to encourage the immediate reporting of animal abuse, neglect, mishandling or harm.

The “See It? Stop It!” initiative provides tools for farms to affirm that proper animal care is the responsibility of all employees and that animal abuse is not acceptable or tolerated. Farm workers will be encouraged to report abuse.

In fact, as a condition of employment, many pork operations require workers to sign policy documents that confirm their roles and responsibilities for animal care, including the reporting of any animal abuse they witness. Such policies usually include disciplinary action, including termination, for failure to report abuse.

The initiative is an adjunct to the pork industry’s “We Care” program, which promotes pork producers’ long-standing commitment to responsible pork production and to continuous improvement in animal care, handling and transportation. It also bolsters the Pork Quality Assurance® (PQA) Plus® program, which outlines best practices for proper animal care, and the Transport Quality Assurance program, which certifies people who transport hogs in proper care and handling methods.

Both the U.S. pork and dairy industries provided funding for the initiative. Additional information about it, including an employer checklist, guidance for integrating the initiative into existing animal well-being programs, posters for use in barns and guidance on employee training is available at http://www.SeeItStopIt.org.

Source: NPPC