The Rural Voice, 2002-06, Page 16Closing the
door on
disease
Biosecurity can save pork farmers a lot
of money because of lost production, but
Dr. Catherine Templeton says it's more
than that. It's also an animal welfare
and food safety issue and affects the
mental attitude of producers, too.
By Keith Roulston
Biosecurity is not a new thing
on Ontario's pork farms. For
decades pork producers have
posted signs at the barn door asking
visitors not to enter. More recently,
larger operations have set up new
protocols that try to keep vehicles
and visitors from bringing diseases
into their buildings.
But despite that, Dr. Catherine
Templeton, a veterinarian with
Synergy Services Inc, a production
and health management company
based in Listowel, thinks the swine
industry has a lot to gain by taking
biosecurity more seriously.
12 THE RURAL VOICE
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Strict control of who and what gets into your barn can mean
healthier, happier pigs that require Tess medication and thus
contribute to better food safety, says Dr. Catherine
Templeton.
"People are more aware of
biosecurity," she says, "certainly
after the foot and mouth (scare)."
However being aware does not
necessarily mean people will go
through the work of setting up a
proper biosecurity system. "It's a fair
bit of work, if you talk to somebody
who's put together some sort of
biosecurity assessment, to actually go
through every step of everything you
do on the farm and see where the
risks are."
"Why biosecurity? If as
veterinarians we're truly dedicating
to preventative medicine rather than
treating disease, then that's where we
have to start for sure — in preventing
disease from getting into herds.
"Good biosecurity has tremendous
economic implications," she says.
"You can really make your producers
a lot of money."
But the issue goes farther than just
dollars, Templeton says.
"You hear a lot of animal welfare
related to things like housing systems
(but) I think one of the biggest
animal welfare issues that there is is
disease. Whether a sow is in a stall of
a loose pen, if she's sick she's not
happy."