Animal Care Assessment (ACA) - Manual - CQA
Animal Care Assessment (ACA) - Manual - CQA
Animal Care Assessment (ACA) - Manual - CQA
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Introduction:The swine <strong>Animal</strong> <strong>Care</strong><strong>Assessment</strong> has been designedas an educational and assessmenttool for producers totrack the welfare of animals ontheir farms, independent of theproduction system. Coupledwith the external verificationprocess, the program can beused to provide assurance ofon-farm animal welfare. Implementingan animal care assessmentwill help you manageanimal care on your farm anddemonstrate this to customers.Pigs are raised in many waysincluding indoor systems (whichpredominate in Canada), outdoorpasture systems and mixedindoor-outdoor systems. Eachsystem has its own set of advantagesand disadvantages for theanimals. Within any system,however, animal welfare islargely determined by theamount and quality of careprovided.Standards described in thisassessment are outlined invarious recommended codesincluding the RecommendedCode of Practice for the <strong>Care</strong>and Handling of Farm <strong>Animal</strong>s— Pigs, the Addendum EarlyWeaned Pigs and Transportation.Producers are encouraged torefer to these documents whencompleting the assessment.The Approach:The aspects of day-to-day farmlife that impact the health andwelfare of the pig have beenidentified in the swine <strong>Animal</strong><strong>Care</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> and checklist.By completing the questions,producers will create a welfareassessment for their farm.This program builds on thefood safety aspects of the <strong>CQA</strong> ®program as it is recognized thatmany practices that promotefood safety on farms also areessential to good animal care.Attention to animal healthand well-being are critical.Participants following the<strong>Animal</strong> <strong>Care</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> willbe required to meet the foodsafety requirements of <strong>CQA</strong> ® .When the document refers tooperating procedures or standardoperating procedures, thissimply means that you havean approach to address thisparticular issue, and that theapproach is written down.Shaded questions are programrequirements.This document was developedby a team of producer representatives,researchers andgovernment officials. It is anevolving document. As part ofthe evolution, the CanadianPork Council is committed totaking a leadership role infurthering work on variousissues, including sow housing,tail trimming, castration andenvironmental enrichment.ANIMAL CARE ASSESSMENT, 2010I-1