Friday, June 28, 2013

Poultry welfare training course available

    The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization Inc. is bringing its Poultry Welfare Auditor Training Course to Canada on September 17-19. Held in cooperation with the Poultry Industry Council, the event will be located in Woodstock, Ontario. The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization is an organization of five animal industry organizations with expertise on best management practices and current science in animal agriculture.
    While the organization has been training poultry welfare auditors since 2006, this will only be the second time the course has been offered outside the United States. "Over the years we have had significant interest and participation from Canadians in our poultry courses," says organization chairman Karen Christensen of O.K. Farms, Ft. Smith, Ark., and one of the main instructors for the upcoming training. "When we were approached about holding another training in Canada, it seemed a logical next step to continue to broaden our scope and also accommodate the increasing demand from the Canadian poultry industry. Last year's course was so well-received, we were pleased to be asked to return in 2013."
    Although the course has been modified to align with the Canadian poultry industry structure, the training will adhere to poultry welfare audit criteria that are commonly audited and will be equivalent to the U.S.-based sessions. Welfare will be addressed related to broilers, turkeys and egg layers and includes production segments of breeders, hatchery, grower/producer, transportation and processing.
    Classroom instruction will be held the first two days, with the first day providing a background on management and husbandry related to welfare criteria and audits. Day two will focus specifically on the process to audit those welfare criteria. On the third day, trainees will go into the field for audit demonstrations at broiler, layer and turkey facilities. At the conclusion of the site visits, participants will complete a closed-book test.
    In addition to Christensen, other primary auditing instructors will be Don McIntyre, directory of poultry research and technical services for Diamond V Mills; and Matt Jones, director of Audits and Assessments, Validus, LLC. The instructional staff also includes experts in production, health care, bio-security and processing.
    Trainees at the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization's auditor certification classes represent a broad spectrum of animal welfare  from academia to customers to suppliers. Corporate sponsorship for this training spans various segments of the poultry industry as well  New Life Mills, Egg Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph Department of Pathobiology, Turkey Farmers of Ontario, Maple Leaf Foods and Cargill.
    Registration is now open on a first-come, first-served basis at a cost of CAN$1,073.50 per trainee. Class size is limited, so interested persons should contact Poultry Industry Council at +1.519.837.0284 or e-mail: ahartley@poultryindustrycouncil.ca.
    "We are delighted to be able to cooperate and bring this training to Canada," says Annette Hartley, Project Manager, Poultry Industry Council. "The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization has long been recognized as the standard of excellence in animal welfare auditing and by holding their poultry welfare auditor course here we will be able to increase the understanding of welfare validation as well as the concentration of Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization-certified auditors in Canada and thus better service our country's growing poultry industry." 

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