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last update:Jun 19, 2008
Welfare concerns within British Pig industry
Government vets have launched an investigation into
Britain's pig farming industry after disturbing images showing dead and diseased
animals were passed to British newspaper, The
Independent.
Pork farmers have been conducting a high-profile
advertising campaign to encourage consumers to buy more expensive British
produce, claiming that standards are higher than they are on the Continent. But
the images, taken at farms linked to leaders of the industry, raise serious
concerns about the welfare of the majority of the country's 8 million
pigs.
Advertising campaign
This development follows
an advertising campaign run by BPEX and the National Pig Association last year,
"Pigs Are Worth It", which showed pictures of clean pigs standing outside on
straw and boasted shoppers were getting "a top quality product from a well cared
for animal".
Animal welfare campaigners are now asking for the adverts
to be banned, saying they mislead the public about the conditions experienced by
the two thirds of the UK's pigs that are reared
indoors.
Footage
Animal Aid claimed its investigation
showed that farmers were "falling considerably short" of the images it portrayed
in its campaigning. The footage shows pigs with sores where they have rubbed
against metal bars; farrowing crates that prevent sows from moving; pigs with
bite marks; collapsed and convulsing animals; pigs covered in excrement; dirty
pens; and routine tail-docking.
BPEX have vowed to investigate the
allegations.
Related Website
•
The Independent
•
BPEX
•
Animal Aid
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