Not in our banger – please support this pig campaign

PrintI adore pigs and although I don’t eat pork that often I do believe the dramatic escalation of industrial pig farming has got to stop NOW. Please go to www.soilassociation.org and click on not in our banger to donate, and support the fight for better pig welfare.

The Soil Association are saying:

No pigs should have their tails chopped off
All pigs should spend at least part of their life outdoors where they can enjoy normal pig behaviour like rooting in the ground
When mother pigs give birth they must be able to follow their instincts to build a nest, not be forced into metal crates which severely restrict their movement

Here are some startling facts about factory farmed pigs

Roughly 9 million pigs are slaughtered every year in the UK – about 1.5% of UK pigs are organic.
98% of UK pigs are fattened (finished) in sheds. 93% of growing pigs and 60% of mother pigs in the UK are kept indoors.
Approximately 80% of UK pigs have their tails cut off (bored and unhappy pigs shut up in sheds will bite the tails of the pigs they are confined with).
Around 55% of sows in the UK give birth while confined in crates, which they remain in until their litter is weaned. At least 35% of pigs reared for meat in the UK are kept in barren systems without any straw bedding.
The largest existing pig factory in the UK that we know about has 1,100 sows.
The average size of large-scale intensive pig farms in the UK is around 500–900 sows. The average pig herd size for all farms in the UK is around 75 sows.
Approximately 92% of pigs are kept on 1,400 pig farms and the rest on some 10,000 small holdings and smaller and mixed farms.

I cannot stick animal cruelty and with it industrialised pig factories. We don’t have to get like the US if we campaign now. The Midland Pig Producers have resubmitted a plan for an indoor pig factory for 2,500 mother pigs (sows) and around 20,000 piglets, with 1,000 pigs going for slaughter each week. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach and I hope it does to you too!

previous post: Octobers newsletter

next post: Do doctors take supplements? You bet they do!!