With the threat of hidden cameras, rogue employees and slanderous anti-animal agriculture agendas, standing guard against activist groups should be part of every dairy’s business plan.
David Pelzer, senior vice president of strategic communications, Dairy Management Inc., recently spoke with Progressive Dairyman about the “Anticipate. Prepare. Protect.” training manual and resources developed for dairy producers to defend their farm, family and way of life.
“Animal care is more in the public eye than ever before, and the handling of animals is being scrutinized more than we have ever seen,” Pelzer says. “We have the responsibility and the opportunity to educate the public on the proper treatment of animals and how these practices are done on dairy farms every day.”
The manual starts out with a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“I think that is especially appropriate in the instance,” Pelzer explains.
“It is really important because of the increased scrutiny of animal care practices on dairy farms. Also, it’s an opportunity to show that dairy farmers really care about their animals and have the protocols in place with their employees to make sure the standards of animal care are upheld.”
The “Anticipate. Prepare. Protect.” manual is part of a training guide that accompanies a workshop for dairy producers and other animal experts tied into dairy farms, such as veterinarians and nutritionists, in order to put a spotlight on the proper handling of animals, farmer’s rights and responsibilities and procedures for working with dairy farm employees.
Learn how to:
- Write an animal care statement of responsibility
- Create a dairy partner contact list
- Write an employee code of conduct
- Update or write talking points for your public response
The other section of the manual deals with handling on-farm suspicious activity. It offers guidance on what preventative steps to take to keep from undercover activity happening on your farm, and if it does, how to respond to it.
Find out:
- Your rights and responsibilities during a crisis
- How to protect yourself and help prevent undercover videos
- What to do when your farm is targeted
- How to recover from an undercover video
The guide is meant as a resource for a training program that dairy promotion groups offer for dairy producers and animal care experts associated with the farm. Those interested in taking advantage of the training may contact their state’s dairy promotion organization.
Information is also available through DMI. Pelzer can be reached directly by email or at (847) 627-3233. PD
To learn more about how to prevent employee animal abuse and to reduce the risk of being an activist group’s next victim, check out this article in the most recent issue of Progressive Dairyman.
Peggy Coffeen
Editor
Progressive Dairyman
