Video: Responsible livestock farming in US
In new YouTube videos released, swine veterinarians Dr. Matthew Turner of North Carolina, United States and Dr. Tara Donovan of Wisconsin join veterinarians and farmers from across the country in speaking out for responsible livestock farming by hosting a film crew to document their work.
They are among 12 veterinarians who demonstrate modern animal wellness practices on dozens of US farms and ranches in the YouTube reality series “Veterinarians On Call.
“Veterinarians On Call”, presented by animal health company Zoetis, shows the public that regardless of the size of a farm, farmers and ranchers benefit from raising animals in the most comfortable, stress-free conditions and housing. Doing so avoids disease, saves money on care, and keeps animals growing at proper weight until ready for market. In other words it would be counter-productive to and a risk to their businesses if farmers raised stressed, underweight animals.
The film crews documented veterinarians working on farms as small as a couple hundred animals, to some of the largest US farms responsible for hundreds of thousands of animals a year. The farms are an accurate representation of America’s 2.2 million farms, 97% of which are family-owned.
The 12 veterinarians who volunteered to be filmed are:
- Dr. John Groves, Missouri
- Dr. Rick Leone, Colorado
- Dr. Don Goodman, Texas
- Dr. Tom Noffsinger, Nebraska
- Dr. Paul Ruen, Minnesota
- Dr. Ross Kiehne, Minnesota
- Dr. Angie Supple, Iowa
- Dr. Pete Ostrum, New York
- Dr. Lindsey Peck, New York
- Dr. Matthew Turner, North Carolina
- Dr. Tara Donovan, Wisconsin
- Dr. Lynn Locatelli, New Mexico (to be published 2013)
In another new video released in the series, Dr. John Groves of Missouri works with family farmers to vaccinate their herd of cows, then examines beef cattle at a large stocker operation, showing the animals are kept comfortable and are treated well.
Other practices filmed include vets working to limit use of antibiotics to only cases necessary to ease an animal’s suffering, and carefully tracking the use of medicines per US Food & Drug Administration FDA regulations to ensure food integrity and safety. The series also shows that animals can spend their lives in comfortable, climate-controlled barns living stress-free, protected from harsh weather and prey.
The series is presented by Zoetis (zo-EH-tis), an animal health company dedicated to supporting its customers and their businesses. Building on a 60-year history as the animal health business of Pfizer, Zoetis discovers, develops, manufactures and markets veterinary vaccines and medicines. Clint Lewis, President of the US for Zoetis, said, “These videos allow veterinarians and farmers to demonstrate common animal wellness practices on modern livestock farms, with the goal of showing the public how healthy food animals are raised and grown.”
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