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By Jessica Scott-ReidContributor

Sun., Feb. 21, 2021timer2 min. read

Supporters of prison animal farms – namely agriculture industry stakeholders
poised to profit – claim that for incarcerated individuals, farming, milking
and slaughtering animals is beneficial. Supporters believe prison animal
farms provide valuable work skills and aid in the rehabilitation of inmates.
According to some academics and advocates however, those benefits are
unproven, and these operations cause far more harm than good.

Prison farms operated by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) were
outlawed in 2010 by the Conservative government, which found they did not
effectively rehabilitate inmates. The farms were reinstated by the Liberals
in 2019, with plans for two institutions to see thousands of goats farmed
on-site. They’re likely starting this spring, reportedly to produce milk for
the Chinese market.

Profit is the priority of these operations, not the rehabilitation of
inmates, and certainly not the welfare of animals.

“Industrial-scale animal farming creates brutal conditions for animals and
workers alike,” says Animal Justice executive director Camille Labchuk (with
whom I co-host a podcast). “There’s no rehabilitative aspect to a factory
goat farm. All it teaches incarcerated persons is that animals should be
exploited and commodified. This is hardly consistent with inspiring more
care and compassion for others.”

In a recent article
<https://theconversation.com/the-correctional-service-of-canadas-goat-plans–
wont-help-inmates-153183> condemning the future prison farming operation,
professors Amy Fitzgerald and Amanda Wilson agree: “There is no empirical
evidence that working in a major livestock operation has any rehabilitative
impact,” they write, adding “internal documents indicate CSC will be using
nearly $10 million of its capital budget for the program.”

Of particular concern for Shawna Gray, a social worker and member of the
Ceg-a-Kin Nakota Nation, is that 30 per cent of Canada’s incarcerated
population are Indigenous.

“Indigenous people have sacred relationships with this land and the
animals,” Gray says. “The introduction of exploitative farming practices
into Indigenous communities was one component of a colonial system designed
to assimilate Indigenous peoples and destroy their cultural practices.”

Making incarcerated Indigenous individuals engage in this form of work can
reinforce and perpetuate long-standing systems of oppression and violence,
says Gray. “If we teach and model oppression and violence, we will encourage
oppression and violence.”

Ultimately, prison animal farms exist exclusively to generate profit for
those seeking to benefit from cheap labour and animal exploitation. They
were outlawed for a reason, and that reason persists today: prison animal
farms are ineffective, unethical, and do not belong in Canada.

Jessica Scott-Reid is a writer, animal advocate and co-host of the
<https://animaljustice.ca/feed/podcast/> Paw & Order podcast.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/02/21/prison-animal-farms–
are-ineffective-and-unethical.html?fbclid=IwAR20AU3bjTQBl38sdGJhicuU2_g08FEV
gFH5m9r9V4ix62WDd-WsSc5xt8k

<https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/02/21/prison-animal-farms
-are-ineffective-and-unethical.html?fbclid=IwAR20AU3bjTQBl38sdGJhicuU2_g08FE
VgFH5m9r9V4ix62WDd-WsSc5xt8k>

<https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/02/21/prison-animal-farms
-are-ineffective-and-unethical.html?fbclid=IwAR20AU3bjTQBl38sdGJhicuU2_g08FE
VgFH5m9r9V4ix62WDd-WsSc5xt8k> Opinion | Prison animal farms are ineffective
and unethical

Animal farms staffed by inmates exist exclusively to generate profit for
those seeking to benefit from cheap labour and animal exploitation. They
were…

http://www.thestar.com <http://www.thestar.com