Thursday 11 August 2011

Animal Welfare Board of India Expresses Concerns over the Proposed IFFCO KISAN SEZ


The Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) in a letter has expressed animal welfare concerns over the proposed IFFCO KISAN SEZ. This letter comes in response to the petition by FIAPO seeking intervention of the AWBI.

In a letter addressed to the promoters of a mega dairy planned for the IFFCO Kisan SEZ (IKSEZ) in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, AWBI has raised questions about the establishment of mega dairies, as such dairy systems are prone to several environmental and animal welfare risks and has sought the details of the project to help AWBI assess the animal welfare implication of the mega dairy.

According to reports, a consortium of IFFCO, the New Zealand based dairy company, Fonterra and an Indian company called Global Dairy Health are developing a mega dairy as part of IFFCO’s SEZ. Reports suggest that the consortium will import 9,000 high yielding pregnant cows from New Zealand over a 3 year period. There are also plans to import frozen embryos and semen for subsequent breeding.

In such 'mega dairies', the cows are typically kept almost exclusively indoors with little or no access to natural surroundings. Cows farmed intensively like this are bred to produce unnaturally large amounts of milk which can make them more susceptible to health problems such as lameness, mastitis, poor body condition and infertility. To maintain these excessive yields of milk without damage to their health they have to be fed an unnaturally concentrated diet which leaves them little time for grazing.


Intensive dairy farm

“Since consumers in developed countries are demanding an end to such inhumane confinement systems, foreign animal production companies are looking to developing countries like India as a dumping ground for the cruelty and waste involved in industrial farm animal production.” Said Arpan Sharma, Convener, FIAPO “Unfortunately, Indian standards lag behind those of some developed nations, and progressive animal welfare standards are not being implemented by foreign companies in Indian markets. This is unfair to Indian consumers, as most of us would prefer products with high animal welfare standards.”

Lincolnshire in UK recently refused permission to a cattle farm similar to the one proposed at IKSEZ. “It is clear that the west itself is moving away from such production systems and India should not permit the establishment of such models that that have demonstrated negative impacts on the environment, small farmers and on animals, added Sharma.”

The AWBI letter is available upon request.

Facts:

-- Animal Welfare Board of India is a statutory body of Government of India constituted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, 1960. At present, the AWBI is working under the aegis of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

-- The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) is an umbrella body of Indian animal welfare groups across the country.

-- According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), "with increasing production, cows need to spend more time eating and thus have less time available for other activities, and may not be able to allocate time enough to fulfill their need for important activities such as resting."
      
My take


In intensive dairy farms the cows are restricted to barren fenced lot which is piled with their dung and urine. To increase the milk production, they are fed grains which are not the natural diet of cows.  They are pumped with Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) and oxytocin to increase the milk production. This leads to abnormal size of udders leading to infections. Antibiotics are used to treat these infections which invariably are present in the milk and meat of these animals.

These infections, hormones, lack of care, etc shortens the life span of the dairy animals drastically (from 20-25 to 3-7 years old). Once the milk production reduces or stops, the cows are are sold to slaughterhouses for meat in addition to the male calves which are considered ‘uneconomical’ for dairy industry.

18th Aug 2011


Andhra farmers zone runs into trouble

HYDERABAD — The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has raised objections to the establishment of the ambitious ‘Kisan’ Special Economic Zone in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh after environmentalists and animal lovers raised serious concerns over the proposal to set up mega dairies in collaboration with a foreign company as part of the SEZ.
According to AWBI Chairman Dr R M Kharb, the establishment of mega dairies in the coastal district involved several environmental and animal welfare risks and possible violation of rules. The AWBI is a statutory body of Government of India, working under the aegis of Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Dr Kharb, in a letter to the promoters of Kisan SEZ, raised several environmental concerns over the proposed project by a consortium of IFFCO, Fonterra, a New Zealand-based dairy company and Global Dairy Health, an Indian firm. The letter was in response to a petition by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO), an umbrella body of Indian animal welfare groups across the country, seeking the intervention of AWBI to stop the project.
Dr Kharb said: “The proposed project is a corporate farm where animals will come under tremendous stress. The animals will be kept at high stocking densities which might result in them contracting diseases which could lead to an increased likelihood of emergence of novel zoonotic diseases.”
The genetically-manipulated high-yielding cows that are proposed to be introduced in the farm have shortened life span, reduced fertility, greater propensity for diseases, physiological and development problems, environmentalists argue.  “Cow slaughter and transportation for slaughter results in additional problems. The management of the amount of animal waste is also a key challenge and often results in degradation of local environment,” the AWBI Chairman said.  According to the convener of FIAPO, Arpan Sharma, the consortium had proposed to import 9,000 high yielding pregnant cows from New Zealand over a three year period. There were also plans to import frozen embryos and semen for subsequent breeding.
“As consumers in developed countries are demanding an end to inhumane confinement systems as is proposed in the SEZ, foreign animal production companies are looking to developing countries like India as a dumping ground for such industrial farm animal production,” Sharma alleged.
“The Indian standards lag behind those of some of the developed nations with progressive animal welfare standards not being implemented by foreign companies in Indian markets. This is unfair to Indian consumers, as most of us would prefer products with high animal welfare standards,” he said.
In such mega dairies, the cows are typically kept almost exclusively indoors with little or no access to natural surroundings. Cows farmed intensively like this are bred to produce unnaturally large amounts of milk which can make them more susceptible to several health problems. 
Sharma pointed out that Lincolnshire in UK had recently refused permission to a cattle farm similar to the one being proposed in AP. “It is clear that the west itself is moving away from such production systems and India should not permit the establishment of such models that have demonstrated negative impacts on the environment,” he contended.

Petition: SAY NO TO INTENSIVE CATTLE FARMS
http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no-to-intensive-cattle-farms

2 comments:

  1. Amruta, What can we the common people do. Is there any petition, contacts to write letter/emails to or anything other actionable items?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Richa! There is no petition or letter writing campaign I know of on this project. I will update the post as soon as I get any more information.

    Meanwhile you can sign and circulate this petition by OIPA on Justice for male calves in Dairy Farms:
    http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-male-calves-in-dairy-farms-in-india-they-are-being-killed-for-profit-sukanya-kadyan

    Development of dairy sector and cruel treatment of ‘dairy’ animals will continue because increasing demand of milk is leading to commercialization of dairy industry. This means profits and cost cutting will be the main aim. In such scenarios welfare of the animals takes a back seat.

    Production (read cruelty on animals) will stop/reduce, only if demand stops/reduces. This is why we need to consider turning vegan and spread the message of veganism far and wide!

    ReplyDelete