CORRESPONDENCE WITH GUS WRUCK, DVM, 
Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives 

From: "Syd Baumel" <baumel@mts.net>
To: "+WPG112 - Manitoba Government Inquiry (CHT)" <mgi@gov.mb.ca>; "Wruck, Gustave (MAFRI)" <GWruck@gov.mb.ca>
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 1:31 PM
Subject: Re: Animal Care Act of Manitoba contact person

Dear Dr./Mr. Wruck: 

Could you or your colleagues answer a few questions I have by email  and/or phone? The focus of my column in The Aquarian (Winnipeg  quarterly) will be the welfare of hens in the battery egg farm  system in Manitoba and Canada-wide, with the recently reported  (Canadian Press) undercover investigation of LEL Farms - a large  battery egg farm - in Ontario as a hook. The following questions are  my starting point (I may have some follow-ups): 

a.. How does the public know that hens (or other animals) raised  and slaughtered behind closed doors are being treated in accord with  the regulations of the Animal Care Act of Manitoba, including the  federal Recommended Codes of Practice (law in Manitoba)? Is there an  inspection program of any kind for egg farms? If so, who does it and  how (e.g. random audits? frequency?)? 

b.. Given that battery egg farms and other intensive livestock  operations are hermetically sealed from public scrutiny, how can  anyone other than employees or outisders to whom information has  been leaked complain to your office about blatant instances of  cruelty or neglect, much less violations of the Animal Care Act that  might seem like business-as-usual to inside workers (e.g. exceeding  stocking density, failure to provide adequate medical attention,  failure to dispose of dead animals in a timely manner)? Are farm  workers taught the regulations of the Act, including the many  provisions of the Codes of Practice, so that they would be in a  position to know if the law is being violated? 

c.. Is there a publicly accessible record of infractions of the  Act by livestock producers in Manitoba? How many charges have been  laid in Manitoba in the past, say, 10 years; how many convictions;  and what have been the most serious offences and the fines or other  consequences? Specific to "Duties of the Owner" under The Animal Care Act of  Manitoba (my questions in brackets): 
   1.. Provision of adequate water and feed 
   2.. Provision of adequate medical attention. [Are producers  obliged to provide veterinary care for hens suffering from painful,  sometimes life-threatening cage-layer fatigue and osteoporotic  fractures, chronic pain from debeaking, painful leg deformities,  lesions secondary to defeathering and feather pecking or other  "occupational diseases"? 
   c.. Protection from heat and cold. 
   d.. Provision of adequate space, ventilation, and sanitation. [Is  there a maximum permitted air level of ammonia in battery egg barns?  Is being showered with excrement from the cages above them  considered adequate sanitation? Is 70 square inches of floor space  for a five-pound battery layer considered adequate space? If so,  adequate for what?] 
   e.. Opportunity for exercise. [How can layer hens exercise with  just 70 square inches of floor space per five-pound bird? Isn't lack  of exercise a major cause of highly prevalent osteoporosis in caged  hens?] 

Please let me know ASAP if you or your colleagues are unable to  answer my questions. My deadline is very near. 

Many thanks for your time and consideration, 

Syd Baumel 
Editor, The Aquarian 
Member, Farm Animal Welfare Committee, Winnipeg Humane Society 
Cofounder, AnimalWatch Manitoba 
Winnipeg 

Syd,

Thank you for your email on this subject.  I will be considering your questions over the week end and get a response back to you on Monday.

Gus Wruck DVM
Extension Veterinarian, CVO/Food Safety KC
Manitoba Agriculture, Food & Rural Initiatives
545 University Crescent, Winnipeg MB R3T 5S6
Phone 204-945-7640 Fax 204-945-8062
Email: gwruck@gov.mb.ca

Many, many thanks. I look forward to reading your answers and any further comments you'd care to make on this issue. Your words and views will be quoted and represented with the utmost consideration for accuracy.

Syd Baumel

Gus Wruck's first reply (Word document)

Syd Baumel's follow-up

Gus Wruck's final reply (Word document)

Syd Baumel's final reply

Where to buy kinder eggs in Manitoba
(to find sources elsewhere, visit eatkind.net)

The Aquarian's Ethical Food Market

EGG-FREE
recipes & products

Compassion Over Killing (USA)

Vegan Society (UK)

Learn More

The Truth About Canada's Egg Industry (Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals)

Chickenout.ca (Vancouver Humane Society)

Canadian Agri-Food Research Council's Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pullets, Layers and Spent Fowl

> BEYOND CANADA

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:"Wegmans Cruelty": an undercover investigation of the immense egg barn of a leading American grocery chain is the basis of an outstanding 27-minute documentary that lays bare the secrets of the battery egg industry (streaming video or download) 

Behind the Label: "Animal Care Certified" (by Peter Singer and Jim Mason) 

Battery Hens (United Poultry Concerns, USA)

Eggindustry.com (Compassion Over Killing, USA)

No Battery Eggs (Humane Society of the United States)

Egg-laying Hens (Compassion in World Farming, UK)