Veal Cattle

The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Veal Cattle was released in 2017.

The veal cattle Code’s 5-year review was completed in 2022. The outcome of the 5-year review can be found here.

Please note that content in the transportation section of this Code, along with additional transportation-related content (e.g., glossary terms) that had referenced or reflected the outdated version of Part XII (Transport of Animals) in the Health of Animal Regulations (HAR), or the now archived Compromised Animals Policy, has been updated to align with the amended regulations, which took effect on February 20, 2020. Hard copies of the Codes that were printed prior to this alignment will not include these updates. For clarity, Codes that have been updated will include a statement on the front cover that reads “Alignment with Part XII (Transport of Animals) of the Health of Animals Regulations: 2021”.

This update process was strictly aimed at revising existing text that no longer aligned with the amended HAR. Every effort was made to respect the original priorities and decisions of the Code Development Committee (e.g., text from the HAR was not added if it was not covered in the original Code). In case of a discrepancy between the hard copy and online version of a Code, the online version shall take precedence.

There are various ways to view the Code:

HTML version (or select from the Table of Contents below)
PDF version (1.9 MB)

There are a limited number of hard copies of this Code. NFACC encourages use of the electronic version and does not store hard copies. If hard copies are required, please contact Veal Farmers of Ontario or Les Producteurs de bovins du Québec.

Code Interpretation - a written clarification of the meaning of a section of a Code

Interpretation to section 3.2 (Young Animal Housing) with respect to whether calves that are housed in hutches are required to have access to the outside during periods where there may be heavy rain and or snowfall. (NOV 2022)
Information on interpretation of a Code

Other resources:

Scientific Committee report - Review of scientific research on priority issues - December 2016
NFACC Code development process
Animal Welfare Research Needs

Preface
Introduction
Glossary
Section 1 Roles and Responsibilities
Section 2 Calf Selection and Care of Newly Arrived Calves
Section 3 Housing
Section 4 Feed and Water
Section 5 Husbandry Practices
Section 6 Health Management
Section 7 Transportation
Section 8 Euthanasia
References

Appendices
Appendix A	- Sample Cattle Welfare Policy
Appendix B	- Selecting Healthy Calves
Appendix C	- Assessing Dehydration in Calves
Appendix D	- Sample Emergency Contact List
Appendix E	- Examples of Fibre Sources and their Relative Abilities to Stimulate Chewing
Appendix F	- Signs of Pain
Appendix G	- Transport Decision Tree
Appendix H	- Sample Euthanasia Decision Tree
Appendix I	- Methods of Euthanasia
Appendix J	- Anatomical Landmarks for Euthanasia
Appendix K	- Secondary Steps to Cause Death
Appendix L	- Resources for Further Information
Appendix M	- Participants
Appendix N	- Summary of Code Requirements

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Veal Cattle

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