U.S – Aviagen, a global leader in the primary broiler breeder business, has joined hands with the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) on a project to help reinforce animal welfare and auditing.
The project will involve the creation of a series of videos featuring Aviagen animal welfare experts which will be used as part of a continuing education program for PAACO-certified auditors, intended to help deepen their knowledge of poultry breeding and the role that animal welfare plays.
“Aviagen and PAACO share a commitment to animal health and wellbeing. This video series is one way we can combine our expertise to achieve continuous improvement in the education of people who have built their career on making a difference in improving animal welfare,” said Dr. Sara Reichelt, Director of Animal Welfare and Sustainability for Aviagen North America.
Some compelling topics that viewers can expect to see are “Stockmanship and pullet and breeder animal welfare,” “Brooding for optimal performance” and “care of hatching eggs from farm to hatchery.”
Committed to bird welfare, Aviagen requires all operations to pass routine internal welfare audits, and the company works closely with PAACO on a regular basis to train internal veterinarians, hatchery/incubation specialists, quality assurance and all other staff who care for Aviagen birds.
In 2020, when the pandemic prevented in-person events, Aviagen collaborated with PAACO to host the poultry breeding company’s very first virtual in-house training to give employees the opportunity to become PAACO certified.
Wouter (Woody) Lassauw, Aviagen’s Marketing & Customer Support Manager, coordinated the training with the support of the North American Welfare and Sustainability team, and will manage the video series.
“PAACO is an authority on animal welfare auditing, providing high-quality training and certification credentials for auditors and audits, something that Aviagen believes strongly in,” he commented.
Since its inception in 2004, PAACO has trained auditors to serve the swine, dairy, poultry, beef cattle, and feedlot industries, providing the much-needed expertise, consistency, and required training.
Before PAACO, there was no standardization or accreditation for animal welfare auditing. It has since become the authority on animal welfare auditing, providing high-quality training and certification credentials for auditors and audits.
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