The commitment of one Gordon McKen, who has championed the importance of animal welfare in the Scottish pig industry over the past 25 years, has been recognised by the Scottish SPCA.
McKen, who has held several key roles during his career in the Scottish pig industry, was presented with a Scottish SPCA 3rd Century medal by Stuart Earley, the charity’s chief executive, in recognition of his focus on pig welfare.
McKen is currently director of Scottish Pig Disease Control Centre, having recently retired from the position of chief executive of Scottish Pig Producers.
He has also been a Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) board member and was very involved in the early development and continued growth of quality assurance in the Scottish pig industry.
McKen said he was very proud of what the Scottish pig industry has achieved, both in driving forward the health status and welfare of pigs, primarily through the industry’s quality assurance scheme.
“There have been challenges along the way, particularly in terms of the profitability of pig production in Scotland compared with other parts of the world where welfare is less of a consideration,” said McKen.
“However, it has been a very rewarding journey to be part of. I am confident there are real opportunities ahead for the industry in Scotland and delighted to receive this award on behalf of the industry.”
During the presentation of the award, Earley said colleagues in the pig industry were right to describe McKen as a ‘national treasure’.
“In 2009 the Scottish SPCA launched its welfare assured scheme for Scottish pigs in conjunction with QMS and one of the driving forces in making this a reality was Gordon McKen,” said Earley.
“Gordon is someone who has focused on animal welfare throughout his career and the Scottish SPCA is delighted to award him its 3rd century medal in recognition of his services to animal welfare in Scotland.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
