Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Foster Duckling Program disaster
#1
There is a farm in Ontario that will let people pay to foster a duckling for a few months. They usually are fostered as pairs and they come with food and instructions.
During the pandemic having ducklings in the house has been wonderfully entertaining for people. After 3 months the ducklings go back to the farm.

What could go wrong?

People found out that the ducklings they had loved and played with for months were going back to the farm to end up as food. They would be sold as duck meat.
The people who fostered the ducklings had not realized that this would happen. Those who found out have been trying to place the ducklings in farm sanctuaries where they can live out their lives. The sanctuaries have  limited room and there are many fostered ducklings.  Most city bylaws will not allow the ducks to remain with the people in the city.

There are a lot of very upset people and upset children who made pets of the ducklings.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/fo...-1.5636950

This is what happens when people don't think things through. People  are willing to eat meat, but they are not realistic about where it comes from.
Meat comes from live animals. You see duck for sale in the grocery store. That duck was once a baby duck like the one you fostered.
Where did they think the  baby ducks they fostered would end up?

Did the farm not think about how people would feel if they made pets of ducks and then the ducks where killed for food? 
They were fostering them to city people with no farm experience. It wasn't going to end well.

The sanctuaries are doing what they can, but they were not warned that there would be a large number of ducks needing sanctuary.

It seems cruel to raise the ducks pets and have them trust people and them turn around and kill them for their meat. In every way this idea was destined to not end well for everyone involved, especially the ducks.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

Reply
#2
"Woolley said in response to the uproar, her farm has changed its policy and now all of the ducks it rents out to families must be returned to her farm with no exceptions." (Previously, they had a "buy" option - after "renting").

This is callous commercial practice, charging "rent" to loan a duckling, not some borrow-for-free scheme. Under normal circumstances, the farm would have to pay for the food and healthcare of its ducks until they are fully grown. Food costs money.

So this farm used the coronavirus as a cover, pretending to help families, when in fact the aim was to have people pay to feed and look after its ducks on a temporary basis. So in effect, the farm got its ducks fattened up for free. Then the ducks can be killed and the farm can profit from the sale of the carcasses.

Even under the older "buy" scheme, now stopped by the farm, the they would have made a hearty profit out of the coronavirus crisis. Families reared the ducklings, then couldn't bear to see them go. So they had to pay a sizeable amount of money to buy the animals they had reared, on top of the "rent" previously paid. This is, in effect, cashing in on people's emotions.

This is a case of "win-win" - but only for the farm profits, not for the deceived families or the poor ducks, where it is a case of "lose-lose".

I find this appalling. This sort of sharp practice should be banned under Canadian law. Time for a local petition, perhaps?
Reply
#3
The whole thing is very callous and very greedy. You are right, they had people pay them to fatten up their ducks so they could later profit off of them. These families all had children and that made it worse. The children would be heart broken that their beloved duck friends are going to be killed so parents would try and save the ducks. They made money no matter what happened. 

 In effect it was like blackmail. Families had to pay more money or their ducks would be killed. If they did pay the money then they had to find someone to take the ducks. It is not legal to keep ducks in the city so it put families in desperate situations.

I think the farm sanctuaries  are going to deal with this and set up petitions. It will help to make the whole scheme public so people know what is really going on. 
I am not sure the farm will find anyone else willing to look after their ducks. 

Sadly I don't think it is against Canadian Law. Having the ducklings in the city would be a minor bylaw infraction, for the people fostering the ducks.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)
Created by Zyggy's Web Design