It's all about sheep at the Atlantic Veterinary College this weekend

Sheep and goat farming are growing industries on P.E.I. and that has led to a conference this weekend on the animals' welfare at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown.

"Both industries are pretty healthy and growing," she said. "Lots of new producers, lots of producers having larger flocks or larger herds, and so welfare, of course, is an increasing focus not just with consumers, but with producers," said Paula Menzies.

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Menzies is a professor of small ruminant health management at the Ontario Veterinary College and the keynote speaker at the conference.

She'll be speaking about how to improve sheep welfare.

'The consumers are demanding it'

Menzies said she hopes people come away with an idea of what the welfare issues are in the industry, and what can be done to address them.

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"With the growing realization that animal welfare needs to be addressed and improved, and we have to prove that it is being improved," she said. "The consumers are demanding it, the processors are demanding it, and so are the producers."

Registration required

Michael Corkram, the AVC's Chair in Animal Welfare at AVC, and Andrew Hebda, the president of the Purebred Sheep Breeders Association of Nova Scotia, will also be speaking.

Registration is required to attend the presentations on Saturday.

The conference is co-hosted by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre at AVC, and the AVC Animal Welfare and Small Ruminant Clubs, with assistance from the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada.

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