Welfare specialists at Tyson Foods provide training and facility audits to help chicken, turkey, pork and beef team members improve operations and animal welfare from hatchery to processing.
“Every day is different. We’re auditing farms, plants, hatcheries and more. I monitor cameras. I oversee trainings. I educate growers and Tyson team members,” said Laurie Collette, a poultry animal welfare specialist for Tyson Foods.
“On a typical day, we could be doing any of one of these or all of them. We take pride in our work – ensuring our animals are raised and processed in controlled and healthy environments.”
Animal welfare culture awareness
Tyson animal welfare specialists are embedded into the day-to-day operations of a facility, identifying opportunities to improve and enhance animal welfare culture awareness.
“A lot of the time on walkthroughs, I look for any opportunity that someone with a fresh pair of eyes can see. We find opportunities and create action plans with steps to reach that goal, and then we start working toward that goal. On the farm, we do everything we can to help us reach those goals,” Cassady Wilson, a pork animal welfare specialist at the company, noted.
“My favorite part is interacting with team members that don’t have an agricultural background. It’s so good to see them grow,” added Jose Vega, a beef animal welfare specialist at Tyson Foods.
Identifying areas for continuous improvement
Each year, the Tyson animal welfare specialists gather in person to collaborate and present best practices.
“As animal welfare specialists, our goal each year is specific to welfare and mental state of our birds. We basically observe all operations from hatchery to processing. During these audits, we seek out ways to make these processes better for the birds while maintaining the production process,” Collette explained.
The 2021 meeting focused on Tyson’s plan to integrate the Five Domains animal welfare framework into its global operations. This framework encourages the promotion of a positive mental state (fifth domain) through the other four domains – nutrition, physical environment, health and behavioral opportunities – ultimately contributing to the mental state of the animal.
Ultimately, what Collette loves most about her job is the opportunity to create and enhance an animal welfare culture
“I’m a people person. This job lets me thrive in that aspect,” she said. “I take pride in our people – the ones that make this company run and the ones that take care of our animals.”
