PAACO Sets Dates for Swine & Meat Plant Welfare Auditor Training

The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) has scheduled the next courses to certify swine welfare and meat plant auditors. This Swine Welfare Auditor training session will be September 21-22, 2017 and is hosted at the new swine unit at South Dakota State University Swine Education and Research Facility.

As in the past, the web-based training called Swine 201 is a prerequisite, and is included in the course cost. The curriculum was developed in conjunction with swine welfare experts from industry and academia, along with support from the National Pork Board, and National Pork Producers Council. The training uses the Common Swine Industry Audit as the teaching instrument, and trainers will include experts in Swine Handling and Welfare from industry, academia and PAACO.

The Meat Plant Welfare Auditor training will be held October 16-17, 2017, based out of Fremont, Neb., and will precede the NAMI Transportation Workshop, and Animal Care & Handling conference in Kansas City, Mo., to be held October 18-20. Attendees at the PAACO training are eligible for member attendance rate at the NAMI Conference.

The meat plant welfare auditor curriculum was developed with the assistance of a large team of meat industry animal welfare experts and Dr. Temple Grandin who will be one of the instructors. The 2017 NAMI Guidelines will be the teaching instrument.

Registration is open and can be found at animalauditor.org. Class size is limited.