UK quality scheme hits back at low welfare claims
The report, produced by animal welfare organisations Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and OneKind, measured animal treatment under various UK quality schemes, ranking them with ‘bronze’, ‘silver’, and ‘gold’ standards. Red Tractor did not achieve any of the standards for any of the species.
“Red Tractor Assurance’s view on the CIWF OneKind report is that it is not impartial and it appears that many of the conclusions were prejudged from the start and the ‘analysis’ biased. In many places, we believe it is seriously misleading and often factually incorrect,” the organisation said.
“The report has no regard for whether the standards it uses as a benchmark are practicable for producers or whether the products are affordable for consumers. It is very easy to develop a theoretical ‘gold standard’, but it provides no benefit to farm animal welfare if no-one is using it.
“The Red Tractor scheme has always set out to make smaller, but progressive increments to standards that are practical across the majority of the industry. We believe that, overall, Red Tractor is making a bigger contribution to farm animal welfare than a standard that aims for much ‘higher’ standards but attracts only a handful of producers (if any),” it added.
The report said the Assurance Food Standard offered few welfare benefits compared with standard industry practice and generally only ensured compliance with minimum legislative requirements, although it recognised that the scheme offers “significant welfare benefits over minimum legal requirements in other countries”.
It deplored the use of farrowing crates for sows, an argument that Red Tractor considered one-sided. “When it comes to farrowing crates the report, as usual, only presents one side of the welfare story. It implies that farrowing crates are bad because they are detrimental to the welfare of the sow, but fails to acknowledge that their purpose is to protect the welfare of the piglets,” the organisation said.
Organic organisation The Soil Association ranked highest in the report across all species, followed by the Scottish Organic Producers Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Freedom Food standard.
