Ensuring Animal Health and Safety

Animal medications play a vital role in Canada’s livestock sector by keeping animals healthy and by optimizing animal performance. They also protect consumers from diseases that can pass in meat, milk and eggs. Livestock producers use medications for their animals to protect against harmful disease, allowing animals to achieve their genetic potential in the production of meat, milk, fish or eggs. For instance, when an animal is ill, antibiotics may be required to help the animal recover, just like people take antibiotics when they have a bacterial infection.

Technological advances in animal health products help to ensure Canada’s abundant food supply, ranked among the safest in the world. Proper use of these products protects the safety of our livestock, producers, and the public at large.

Development of Animal Health Products

Years of research and testing go into the development of new products by pharmaceutical manufacturers, often taking 10-12 years to introduce a new entity to the marketplace. Many pharmaceutical manufacturers have veterinarians on staff to assist in the development of new animal health products. They also act as a highly knowledgeable resource for local veterinarians and producers when products are approved for use.
Research conducted by an animal health company includes extensive testing to ensure human and animal safety. When they submit a proposal to have a new drug approved for use in Canada, sponsors must provide the Veterinary Drugs Directorate with detailed information on efficacy (to prove that the drug works as it is intended), toxicity and residues. The manufacturers collect this information by conducting numerous studies over many years in the product research development phase.

In pharmaceutical production, animal health companies must comply with a set of standards known worldwide as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) which outline the principles and practices that must be followed. Most sections of the Canadian GMPs are now harmonized with international GMP standards. They provide specific requirements for areas including facilities, equipment, sanitation, testing, manufacturing, personnel, quality control, packaging/labelling and record-keeping.

Helping Producers Maximize Their Investment

By following a complete animal health management program including strict adherence to label directions, producers can maximize their investment. It has been estimated that livestock producers save $3 for every dollar they spend on animal health products due to reduction in animal death and disease losses. Improved animal health also leads to reduced feed costs, resulting from better feed efficiency of the healthy stock.

Livestock Producers Take Safety To Heart

Responsible use of animal health products is something that livestock producers take very seriously. To ensure that the food they produce is safe for human consumption, producers closely follow many quality control procedures, including the following:

Quality Assurance Programs

Quality Assurance Programs are specifically designed to provide important guidelines for producers to follow to ensure that the food they produce is safe and of the highest quality. An example is the Quality Starts Here® program developed by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association which conducts ongoing research projects and recommends procedures at both the production and processing stages to ensure safe, healthy beef products.

For more info: see the Quality Assurance Backgrounder, part of Food Safety Facts

Veterinarians Play a Vital Role in Food Safety

Veterinarians have an indispensable role to play in food safety by working with the producer to keep animals healthy. There is tremendous value in the vet-client-patient relationship since it allows a veterinarian to get to know a farmer, his farm operation as well as the animals themselves. This is much the same as how a doctor gets to know a human patient and his/her medical history.

By working closely with their veterinarians, farmers can ensure the health and safety of their animals and the appropriate use of animal health products. For example, livestock producers work in concert with their veterinarians to reduce the need for antibiotics through biosecurity preventative health programs. This involves restricted access into barns to avoid the introduction of harmful diseases.

Ongoing dialogue between the producer and the veterinarian is a key component of animal health management programs. Regular health management visits to clients’ farms provide continual opportunities for veterinarians to advise on herd health and proper use of medication.

Although all pharmaceutical products are labeled, veterinarians often leave additional written instructions on the farm and verbally review important label information with producers, including withdrawal times for prescribed products.