Real Farmers with Real Heart

Helping Farmers Help their Animals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 22, 2008

 He’s been raising pigs and cattle for more than 40 years and in that time Huron County farmer Ron Douglas has cared for more than just his own animals. Ron is an animal care advisor for the Ontario Farm Animal Council’s Animal Care Helpline, a volunteer advice service he helped to set up in 1992.

Ron explains that the Helpline service came about because farmers felt they needed a way to help fellow farmers, in extreme situations, who were having trouble giving their animals the care that they needed.

The service is set up as a confidential way for people to report situations where they feel farm animals need better care or for farmers themselves to call if they need some help. For advisors like Ron, it is also a way to share their years of experience and knowledge in taking good care of farm animals.

The aim of the service is to try and reach those cases and animals before its an emergency, Ron explains.  And while the number of calls remain low, Ron says it is rewarding when advisors can assess a situation and, if a problem exists, offer practical advice or assistance to turn things around.

Ron maintains that the Helpline Service is good for agriculture, good for farmers, and most importantly, it's good for the animals.

 Contact:

Kelly Daynard, Program Manager

Ontario Farm Animal Council

Ontario AgriCentre, Suite 106

100 Stone Road W.

Guelph, ON N1G 5L3

Telephone: 519-837-1326 ext. 224; Fax: 519-837-3209

Website: www.ofac.org       www.farmissues.com

Funding for this program is being provided, in part, through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program. This is a collective outcome partnership with the Agricultural Adaptation Council in Ontario, the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council, the Saskatchewan Council for Community Development and the Alberta Agriculture and Food Council.

 The Ontario Farm Animal Council is a non-profit education organization representing Ontario’s 40,000 livestock and poultry farmers and related agri-businesses.  OFAC is the voice for animal agriculture, providing a coordinated effort on issues related to animal agriculture and food production including farm animal care, environment, new technology and food safety.   

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