More than 175 people attended the 2019 Alberta Farm Animal Care Association (AFAC) Livestock Care Conference at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites in Olds on March 20-21.
The theme of this year’s conference was Partners in Progress: Tools for Success.
The keynote address was given by Rebecca Gimenez Husted on technical large animal emergency rescue. Her address was sponsored by the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.
Husted talked about the importance of having plans in place to deal with livestock rescue in situations such as flooding, snowstorms, highway accident incidents, and barn fires.
“What is really important is how we work together,” she said. “It's about how we come together as human beings to work together.”
One of the biggest obstacles in successful rescue operations can be human factors such as “frantic, desperate, distressed and upset owners and bystanders,” she said.
Other obstacles can include emergency response personnel inexperienced in large animal response aspects and behaviours, and veterinarians and staff that don’t know how to plug into the incident command structure during rescue situations, she said.
She called for livestock owners and other stakeholders to work together to develop rescue plans before emergencies occur.
Having the necessary rescue equipment purchased and available before emergencies is also key, she said.
Anyone involved with animal rescue situations needs to ensure they keep their mental health in mind, both during the emergencies and in the aftermath, she said.
“We have to think about our mental health,” said Husted. “When we have to deal with a cow in the mud, the (overturned) livestock trailer on the side of the road, the barn that burns to the ground, it affects us.
“If you are having problems, you need to think through it and you need to talk to somebody.”
The Growing Pains panel involved a discussion of recent changes to the rules around the use of anti-microbials, which are antibiotics used in livestock care.
Panel members were Cassandra Kirkpatrick (small flock owner), Greg Bowie (beef producer), Adam Ovinge (beekeeper), Tom Inglis (poultry veterinarian), Keith Lehman (chief provincial veterinarian) and Dr. Darrell Dalton (Alberta Veterinary Medical Association registrar).
There has been good compliance with the new rules to date, said Bowie.
“We have to keep working on this because public perception is huge,” he said. “As animal agriculture we do a good job and we need to get that message out to the consumer. There are a lot of things happening in the right direction.”
Dr. Dalton said biosecurity remains vital to the long-term success of the livestock industry.
The conference also included various addresses on livestock health, a regulatory panel, and an emergency livestock handling equipment trailer tour.
AFAC is a multi-stakeholder livestock industry group that promotes livestock welfare.
