Alberta Farm Animal Care is looking for members of the livestock industry to come out to their focus groups being held across the province.

Executive Director at Alberta Farm Animal Care, Annemarie Pedersen, says the focus groups are a part of their Livestock Engagement Project.

"The intention of the entire Livestock Welfare Engagement Project is to build a clear picture and understanding of the work being done related to welfare in the livestock sector in Alberta. The successes, obviously we'd like to talk about those, but also where are the gaps and opportunities to do better and to do more."

A survey is also part of the project where members of the livestock industry can provide their input, which Pedersen says will guide the discussions of the focus group.

The survey is still open until Wednesday, October 31.

Their findings from the Livestock Engagement Project will be complied into a report which will be submitted to Alberta Agriculture, providing the government with insight on animal welfare in the province from the perspective of the livestock industry.

Pedersen says, they would love to see primary producers at the focus groups.

"They're the ones who are at ground zero, doing the hard work everyday and maintaining the welfare of the animal, but they are part of a huge value chain. If we can have people who are involved in transporting livestock, if we can have people who are veterinarians or vet techs, people who work in the livestock pharmaceutical animal health side of things, all of those are people we would love to have involved."

She adds, the groups are free to attend and lunch will be provided.

The focus groups are as follows;

September 20 - Grande Prairie Regional College - Fairview
September 25 - Lethbridge College - Lethbridge
October 2 - Olds College - Olds
October 10 - University of Alberta - Edmonton
October 25 - Lakeland College - Vermilion

For more information and registration details, visit Alberta Farm Animal Care's Website.

 

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