Shut down Arkell Research Farm at the University of Guelph
Shut down Arkell Research Farm at the University of Guelph
The Issue
Concerned citizens recently obtained footage of the Arkell Research Station at the University of Guelph. The footage reveals the use of filthy gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for chickens, both which are the lowest of standards of practice. From anonymous sources, we have also received photos of chickens with severe feather loss from ongoing experimentation, as well as testimonials about these experiments and practices. The mandate of the University of Guelph is to Improve Life through research, knowledge and experiential learning. What you will read and see below shows otherwise.
GESTATION CRATES AND BATTERY CAGES.
GESTATION CRATES:
Gestation crates are metal cages on concrete floors that do not allow pigs to turn around. These cages also force pigs to lay in their urine and feces, which causes health problems, including urinary tract infections. Having their skin pressed against the metal bars results in skin lesions too, only worsened by laying in filth. Being unable to move also causes lameness and joint problems. Furthermore, pigs are highly social animals, yet these crates give them no opportunity to socialize with each other. Unsurprisingly, the mental health of pigs living in these stalls is considerably affected as they cannot express natural behaviours like grazing, rooting, nesting, wallowing, and even walking. As a result, many of them engage in abnormal behaviours, like bar-biting and sham chewing, due to the frustration of not being able to move freely.
BATTERY CAGES:
Battery cages are tiny cages that do not allow hens to perform natural behaviours like nesting, perching, dust-bathing, and even wing-flapping. For example, chickens become frustrated and start to pace from being unable to nest prior to laying an egg. Such cages also result in their claws getting stuck on the wire floors, leading to lesions and injuries. The inability to move everyday also increases the likelihood of bones breaking. Like pigs, their mental health also takes a toll in this dull environment, resulting in abnormal behaviours like aggression and pecking the feathers off their neighbours.
CANADIAN CODES OF PRACTICE?
The Arkell research farm only gets a “pass” from the Canadian codes of practice because current standards are only relevant for newly built farms. Yet, these types of farms are illegal in the European Union and some states in the US. Their ban is also reflected in numerous company policies. So why are these cages still being used in “innovative research” at the Arkell Research Station at the University of Guelph? The university plans to move the Arkell pig farm to their new Elora farm (currently under construction). This petition is demanding for both research facilities to shut down. We do not want better or bigger cages, as there is no humane way to exploit animals. We want liberation.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:
“The worst part of the class for me was the lab component. The University of Guelph has an on-campus abattoir, beside their working farm. We did a tour of that farm and saw the famous “port-hole” cow, a cow with a surgically implanted port in her side so researchers could extract rumen contents while the cow was alive.
The first animal I saw slaughtered was a cow. They walked her in, applied a bolt pistol to her head, and strung her up by a back foot to slice her throat. Once she was drained of blood, one of the two workers cut off her head and put it to the side. The professor was sure to point out how the electrical activity in her brain was still firing, as her eyes rolled about and her mouth continued to chew after the head had been removed from the body. The cow was skinned and cut into four parts before the lab was over. The following week, the same process was repeated with a sheep.
It was taught to me in the course materials that animals are commodities and it is right to view them as such. It does not surprise me that people mistreat animals on campus - they are seen as a way to make money, and nothing more.” - Amy Cameron, Prior UofG student
“.... they have chickens bred to be genetically blind (Dr. Grégoy Bédécarrats’ research group)- just to study the effects of different light spectrum on their laying performance. Many of these birds starve to death as chicks as they are unable to find food or water, and end up in one of the freezers. They keep chickens and roosters in single cages for their entire life (for breeding). There is a gas chamber with CO2 where birds are brutally suffocated and the other common way of killing birds is "cervical dislocation" where birds are just pulled at their heads till their neck breaks... a horrific death- in Europe it is forbidden by law to kill a bird like this without prior anaesthesia” - OAC graduate student
“I can't properly describe it, but the most memorable part of Arkell for me was the way the caged hens all freak out and make this rising panicked sound whenever we enter their room. They're terrified of us. The ones that don't live in cages live in their own filth and spend their time exploring an environment that never changes for the better. They go insane. They peck each other, gore each other, and if one dies, they eat each other. The scientists there frequently use over a hundred chickens for one experiment, and do barely anything to prevent or manage the birds' mental and physical health problems, since the experiment takes priority over the animals' lives and well-being. There is no respect for life on that property.” -UofG Student
TAKE ACTION:
SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION
CONTACT THE MANAGER OF THE ARKELL FARM: Dave Vandenberg at 226-979-2950 or davanden@uoguelph.ca
CONTACT THE VICE PRESIDENT (RESEARCH) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH: Malcolm Campbell at 519-824-4120, Ext. 53081 or vpres@uoguelph.ca
CONTACT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH: Franco Vaccarino at 519-824-4120, Ext. 52200 or president@uoguelph.ca
SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP BILL 156, WHICH WOULD MAKE OBTAINING FOOTAGE FROM THESE FARMS ILLEGAL: https://www.change.org/p/doug-ford-stop-bill-156-ontario-s-ag-gag-law
References:
The Humane Society of the United States. (2013). An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Gestation Crates for Pregnant Sows. Available from https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/hsus-report-gestation-crates-for-pregnant-sows.pdf
The Humane Society of the United States. Scientists and Experts on Battery Cages and Laying Hen Welfare. Available from https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/hsus-expert-synopsis-battery-cages-hen-welfare.pdf
14,862
The Issue
Concerned citizens recently obtained footage of the Arkell Research Station at the University of Guelph. The footage reveals the use of filthy gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for chickens, both which are the lowest of standards of practice. From anonymous sources, we have also received photos of chickens with severe feather loss from ongoing experimentation, as well as testimonials about these experiments and practices. The mandate of the University of Guelph is to Improve Life through research, knowledge and experiential learning. What you will read and see below shows otherwise.
GESTATION CRATES AND BATTERY CAGES.
GESTATION CRATES:
Gestation crates are metal cages on concrete floors that do not allow pigs to turn around. These cages also force pigs to lay in their urine and feces, which causes health problems, including urinary tract infections. Having their skin pressed against the metal bars results in skin lesions too, only worsened by laying in filth. Being unable to move also causes lameness and joint problems. Furthermore, pigs are highly social animals, yet these crates give them no opportunity to socialize with each other. Unsurprisingly, the mental health of pigs living in these stalls is considerably affected as they cannot express natural behaviours like grazing, rooting, nesting, wallowing, and even walking. As a result, many of them engage in abnormal behaviours, like bar-biting and sham chewing, due to the frustration of not being able to move freely.
BATTERY CAGES:
Battery cages are tiny cages that do not allow hens to perform natural behaviours like nesting, perching, dust-bathing, and even wing-flapping. For example, chickens become frustrated and start to pace from being unable to nest prior to laying an egg. Such cages also result in their claws getting stuck on the wire floors, leading to lesions and injuries. The inability to move everyday also increases the likelihood of bones breaking. Like pigs, their mental health also takes a toll in this dull environment, resulting in abnormal behaviours like aggression and pecking the feathers off their neighbours.
CANADIAN CODES OF PRACTICE?
The Arkell research farm only gets a “pass” from the Canadian codes of practice because current standards are only relevant for newly built farms. Yet, these types of farms are illegal in the European Union and some states in the US. Their ban is also reflected in numerous company policies. So why are these cages still being used in “innovative research” at the Arkell Research Station at the University of Guelph? The university plans to move the Arkell pig farm to their new Elora farm (currently under construction). This petition is demanding for both research facilities to shut down. We do not want better or bigger cages, as there is no humane way to exploit animals. We want liberation.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:
“The worst part of the class for me was the lab component. The University of Guelph has an on-campus abattoir, beside their working farm. We did a tour of that farm and saw the famous “port-hole” cow, a cow with a surgically implanted port in her side so researchers could extract rumen contents while the cow was alive.
The first animal I saw slaughtered was a cow. They walked her in, applied a bolt pistol to her head, and strung her up by a back foot to slice her throat. Once she was drained of blood, one of the two workers cut off her head and put it to the side. The professor was sure to point out how the electrical activity in her brain was still firing, as her eyes rolled about and her mouth continued to chew after the head had been removed from the body. The cow was skinned and cut into four parts before the lab was over. The following week, the same process was repeated with a sheep.
It was taught to me in the course materials that animals are commodities and it is right to view them as such. It does not surprise me that people mistreat animals on campus - they are seen as a way to make money, and nothing more.” - Amy Cameron, Prior UofG student
“.... they have chickens bred to be genetically blind (Dr. Grégoy Bédécarrats’ research group)- just to study the effects of different light spectrum on their laying performance. Many of these birds starve to death as chicks as they are unable to find food or water, and end up in one of the freezers. They keep chickens and roosters in single cages for their entire life (for breeding). There is a gas chamber with CO2 where birds are brutally suffocated and the other common way of killing birds is "cervical dislocation" where birds are just pulled at their heads till their neck breaks... a horrific death- in Europe it is forbidden by law to kill a bird like this without prior anaesthesia” - OAC graduate student
“I can't properly describe it, but the most memorable part of Arkell for me was the way the caged hens all freak out and make this rising panicked sound whenever we enter their room. They're terrified of us. The ones that don't live in cages live in their own filth and spend their time exploring an environment that never changes for the better. They go insane. They peck each other, gore each other, and if one dies, they eat each other. The scientists there frequently use over a hundred chickens for one experiment, and do barely anything to prevent or manage the birds' mental and physical health problems, since the experiment takes priority over the animals' lives and well-being. There is no respect for life on that property.” -UofG Student
TAKE ACTION:
SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION
CONTACT THE MANAGER OF THE ARKELL FARM: Dave Vandenberg at 226-979-2950 or davanden@uoguelph.ca
CONTACT THE VICE PRESIDENT (RESEARCH) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH: Malcolm Campbell at 519-824-4120, Ext. 53081 or vpres@uoguelph.ca
CONTACT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH: Franco Vaccarino at 519-824-4120, Ext. 52200 or president@uoguelph.ca
SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP BILL 156, WHICH WOULD MAKE OBTAINING FOOTAGE FROM THESE FARMS ILLEGAL: https://www.change.org/p/doug-ford-stop-bill-156-ontario-s-ag-gag-law
References:
The Humane Society of the United States. (2013). An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Gestation Crates for Pregnant Sows. Available from https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/hsus-report-gestation-crates-for-pregnant-sows.pdf
The Humane Society of the United States. Scientists and Experts on Battery Cages and Laying Hen Welfare. Available from https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/hsus-expert-synopsis-battery-cages-hen-welfare.pdf
14,862
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on May 1, 2020