Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/21/14

The criticisms included in the latest video released by the Humane Society of the United States are mostly “wrong” and “unsubstantiated,” and “contradict current research,” according to a panel of animal care specialists convened by the Center for Food Integrity to review videos released by animal rights activists.

The video is about the technique of “feedback” to address the threat of PEDv, which involves feeding the ground-up intestines of piglets who died of the disease to pregnant sows in an effort to build up their immunity and that of their unborn piglets.

“There’s no question that people may be put off by this treatment, but PEDv is wreaking havoc out there on the farms and 'feedback' is the only control method we have found to be effective,” said Dr. Tom Burkgren, executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, and a member of the review panel. He also noted that the virus has been known in the U.S. for less than 12 months, and with little in the way of funding for research into animal vaccines, there has not been time to develop a more sophisticated response to the threat.

‘Wrong’
Assertions made in the video that diseases such as PEDv are more often found on farms where the animals are kept indoors are simply inaccurate, the reviewers said.

“Claims that the infection rate is greater on so-called ‘factory farms’ than on other farms and that smaller farms don’t use practices like 'feedback' are just wrong,” said Dr. Lisa Tokach, a practicing swine veterinarian in Kansas. “I work with all sizes of farms and they are all dealing with the same issues. It’s just more dramatic when you have 5,000 sows instead of five sows.”

HSUS’s contention that hogs housed in more intensive circumstances contract more diseases and lead to the development of new pathogens “contradicts current research and the current understanding of disease emergence. For instance, the claim that biosecurity is better for animals housed outdoors is just wrong. To say that transmission of disease between farms increases with intensification of production is unsubstantiated,” said Dr. John Deen of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

Legality
The panel says the video’s claim that the “feedback” process is illegal in the state of Kentucky is likely true.
“The Swine Health Protection Act prohibits feeding untreated garbage to pigs. [The Act] defines garbage to include ‘all waste materials derived from whole or in part from the meat of any animal or other animal material.’ Piglet intestines are likely animal material within the Act,” said Paul Shapiro, HSUS’s vice president for farm animal protection.

“There is a regulation in Kentucky that goes back decades on feeding garbage and the definition of garbage includes animal tissue,” Burkgren said. “So, it may technically be illegal. We’re checking with Kentucky’s state veterinarian for more information and current interpretation of the regulation.”
 

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