All About Alberta Farm Animal Care
Alberta Farm Animal Care was founded in 1993, which makes this coming year AFAC’s 25th anniversary!! AFAC was created by the livestock industry for the livestock industry in Alberta. Throughout the past 25 years, AFAC has developed into the collective voice of the livestock industry on all matters of livestock welfare.
As the topic of animal agriculture grows larger every day, it is our job as an industry to work together as a united front to tackle this issue. As an organization, we work to bring commodity groups and stakeholders in the industry together to promote the message of responsible animal care and welfare.
AFAC provides a multi-faceted approach to farm animal welfare in Alberta. We are very active in public engagement and education as well as providing information and resources to producers across Alberta.
Consumers Expect It
Nowadays, consumers are looking for assurance that farm animals are being raised humanely. Therefore, it is a priority to demonstrate our commitment to animal care.
What Does AFAC Do?
We have many different programs and events that are a main part of our identity within the industry. AFAC is very present when it comes to public engagement, we are actively involved in events such as the Calgary Stampede, Aggie Days, Amazing Ag, Classroom Agriculture Program, Open Farm Days, etc. At these events, we work to strengthen the livestock industry’s social licence and let the public know that farmers in Alberta, as well as across Canada, care for their animals!
Along with public engagement, we are regularly engaging with our members. Whether that be at our Advisory Council meetings that occur 3 times a year, member updates, featuring them in blog posts and videos, and more. We do our best to maintain a strong relationship with all of our members and ensure that the work we are doing continues to be useful to all of our members.
Along with public engagement we have produced many consumer and producer resources. These include Humane Handling Guidelines, infographics, children’s workbooks, educational resources, video series, fact sheets, and much more!
We also host an annual Livestock Care Conference, which brings together industry experts, researchers, innovative producers, industry stakeholders, and students to learn about the latest improvements in animal care and welfare around the world.
Each year AFAC holds many different workshops for industry training, in the past, these have included poultry handling and transportation workshops, backyard chicken and small flock care workshops, large animal rescue workshops, etc. To find out about upcoming workshops, please visit our events page on our website. AFAC believes that training is very important to promote responsible animal care, this is why we do our best to keep up with changes in the industry and provide training and workshops when the industry requests them.
One of our more prominent programs is the ALERT Line. This is a “producer helping producer” anonymous call-line that is designed to provide help and advice to producers on issues of animal care from within the industry. The ALERT Line can also be used to answer questions from the public on animal care practices.
We have also helped facilitate or put in place 17 Emergency Livestock Handling Equipment Trailers throughout Alberta. These trailers are equipped with materials to help when accidents happen such as livestock truck rollovers, a barn roof collapse, flood, or a barn fire. These trailers, and the equipment in them, are designed to help keep the animals safe along with the people handling them. These trailers are connected to 911, so in an event that a trailer is needed you can request them through a 911 operator, call the ALERT Line, or find the closest trailer on our trailer information cards.
Membership Based Organization
AFAC is a membership based organization. There are 6 different levels of membership that we offer.
Supporter Member: This is for individuals without livestock who support the vision/mission of Alberta Farm Animal Care
Producer Member: This level is for individuals or farms that own livestock.
Bronze/Silver/Gold/ Platinum Members: These levels are for organizations or companies that wish to support Alberta Farm Animal Care’s mission.
Each level includes different benefits, you can see which level would best suit you and/or your organization on our membership page on our website.
Becoming a member of AFAC is a great way to show that you care and become involved in the livestock care and welfare conversation.
AFAC truly believes that we are better together, and we hope to bring the livestock industry together to provide a forum for discussion and to continue to strengthen our industry from within.