Pig cruelty
Encyclopedia
Pig cruelty is the infliction of suffering or harm upon pigs.
reported that in 2009 the number of pigs that arrived at slaughterhouses with injuries incurred by planks and chains increased. IceNews cited a Copenhagen Post report saying that increasing abuse "may be caused by the new system, introduced in 2006, which rewards" the rushed loading of animals onto vehicles. Over 2008 and 2009, the number of pig abuse cases in Denmark had increased fivefold.
Sometimes sow stalls are used to restrict the movement of sows during pregnancy. This practice is prohibited for pigs exported to the UK. However, the method was found on some Danish farms by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
in a television programme for the UK's Channel 4
in 2009.
, in 2009 the New Zealand pork
industry was "dealt a shameful public relations slap-in-the-face after its former celebrity kingpin, Mike King, ousted their farming practices as 'brutal,' 'callous' and 'evil'" on a May episode of New Zealand television show Sunday. King condemned the "appalling treatment" of factory farmed pigs. King observed conditions inside a New Zealand piggery, and saw a dead female pig inside a sow stall, lame and crippled pigs and others that could barely stand, pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed, pigs with scars and injuries, and a lack of clean drinking water and food.
After visiting several pig factory farms, investigator Lauren Ornelas wrote:
Piglets are taken from their mothers when they are as young as 10 days old and packed into pens until they are separated to be raised for breeding
or meat. Factory farmers chop off the piglets' tails and often use pliers to break off the ends of their teeth. Farmers also remove pieces of the young animals' ears for identification purposes and remove the males' testicles without the use of pain-killers
.
A 10 April 2001 story in the Washington Post reports that "Hogs...are dunked in tanks of hot water after they are stunned to soften the hides for skinning. As a result, a botched slaughter condemns some hogs to being scalded and drowned. Secret videotape from an Iowa pork plant shows hogs squealing and kicking as they are being lowered into the water."
According to a 10 November 2002 article in the New York Times, "Sick pigs, being unproductive 'production units' are clubbed to death on the spot." Other methods used to kill sick pigs include: "thumping" (slamming animals' heads against the floor until they die), drowning them with a hose, and standing on their necks.
In November 2009, video released to Fox News by Mercy for Animals
showed a string of alleged abuses at one of the nation's largest pig farms, including footage of employees picking up baby pigs and tossing them like footballs. Additional scenes from the video had shown injured pigs going uncared for and pregnant hogs being kept in very small pens. Fox News refused to air several portions of the video, saying they were too disturbing. Fox News visited the Country View Family Farm in Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, where communications manager Eric Haman sat down to watch the MFA video for the first time.
Most states exempt farm animals from state anti-cruelty laws that apply to domestic animals. In 2007, the National Pork Board, which monitors the pork industry, launched its Pork Quality Assurance Plus program focusing on animal welfare training and encouraging pork producers to hire third-party auditors to inspect their farms.
New York Times reported that keeping pigs and other animals in "unnaturally overcrowded" environments poses considerable health risks for workers, neighbors, and consumers.
Denmark
ThePigSite.com stated that IceNewsIceNews
IceNews is an Icelandic based news outlet. It specialises in providing English-language news on the Nordic countries of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and elsewhere in northern Europe, primarily the United Kingdom. It publishes articles on current affairs,...
reported that in 2009 the number of pigs that arrived at slaughterhouses with injuries incurred by planks and chains increased. IceNews cited a Copenhagen Post report saying that increasing abuse "may be caused by the new system, introduced in 2006, which rewards" the rushed loading of animals onto vehicles. Over 2008 and 2009, the number of pig abuse cases in Denmark had increased fivefold.
Sometimes sow stalls are used to restrict the movement of sows during pregnancy. This practice is prohibited for pigs exported to the UK. However, the method was found on some Danish farms by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver
James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...
in a television programme for the UK's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 2009.
New Zealand
According to ScoopScoop (news website)
Scoop.co.nz is a New Zealand internet news site with a readership of 25,000 unique visitors a day, delivering 2,000,000 pages of information per month....
, in 2009 the New Zealand pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
industry was "dealt a shameful public relations slap-in-the-face after its former celebrity kingpin, Mike King, ousted their farming practices as 'brutal,' 'callous' and 'evil'" on a May episode of New Zealand television show Sunday. King condemned the "appalling treatment" of factory farmed pigs. King observed conditions inside a New Zealand piggery, and saw a dead female pig inside a sow stall, lame and crippled pigs and others that could barely stand, pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed, pigs with scars and injuries, and a lack of clean drinking water and food.
“Sow crate farming should be illegal and we should outlaw it right now. It is absolutely disgusting and I am sorry that I was part of it,” – Mike King, 2009
United States
In the United States the pigs kept in unhealthy environments exhibit behaviors such as repetitive bar biting, sham chewing (chewing on nothing), and obsessively pressing on water bottles.After visiting several pig factory farms, investigator Lauren Ornelas wrote:
"What will remain with me forever is the sound of desperate pigs banging their heads against immovable doors and their constant and repeated biting at the prison bars that held them captive. This, I now know, is a sign of mental collapse."
Piglets are taken from their mothers when they are as young as 10 days old and packed into pens until they are separated to be raised for breeding
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
or meat. Factory farmers chop off the piglets' tails and often use pliers to break off the ends of their teeth. Farmers also remove pieces of the young animals' ears for identification purposes and remove the males' testicles without the use of pain-killers
Analgesic
An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
.
A 10 April 2001 story in the Washington Post reports that "Hogs...are dunked in tanks of hot water after they are stunned to soften the hides for skinning. As a result, a botched slaughter condemns some hogs to being scalded and drowned. Secret videotape from an Iowa pork plant shows hogs squealing and kicking as they are being lowered into the water."
According to a 10 November 2002 article in the New York Times, "Sick pigs, being unproductive 'production units' are clubbed to death on the spot." Other methods used to kill sick pigs include: "thumping" (slamming animals' heads against the floor until they die), drowning them with a hose, and standing on their necks.
In November 2009, video released to Fox News by Mercy for Animals
Mercy for Animals
Mercy for Animals is an animal rights group based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in October 1999, it is a nonprofit, tax exempt, 501 organization with more than 25,000 members. Nathan Runkle is the group's executive director and founder...
showed a string of alleged abuses at one of the nation's largest pig farms, including footage of employees picking up baby pigs and tossing them like footballs. Additional scenes from the video had shown injured pigs going uncared for and pregnant hogs being kept in very small pens. Fox News refused to air several portions of the video, saying they were too disturbing. Fox News visited the Country View Family Farm in Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, where communications manager Eric Haman sat down to watch the MFA video for the first time.
"There are some things in this video that I can’t and won’t defend. The mishandling of animals I can't defend, it’s unacceptable. But there are others that could be seen out of context and I can’t really understand what’s going on."
Most states exempt farm animals from state anti-cruelty laws that apply to domestic animals. In 2007, the National Pork Board, which monitors the pork industry, launched its Pork Quality Assurance Plus program focusing on animal welfare training and encouraging pork producers to hire third-party auditors to inspect their farms.
New York Times reported that keeping pigs and other animals in "unnaturally overcrowded" environments poses considerable health risks for workers, neighbors, and consumers.