Pigs are the most intelligent farm animals but many live their lives shut up indoors in over-crowded sheds, with tails chopped off, bored and unhappy. In this depraved atmosphere, mother pigs (sows) are forced to give birth in crates so small they can hardly move around. Do you find this distressing?
This is precisely the state of many of the 9 million pigs slaughtered every year in the UK - to provide our sausages and meat products. What's more, while the average pig herd size in the UK is relatively low- 75 sows, there are large-scale intensive pig farms with an average of 500-900 sows.
Now, Midland Pig Producers have plans for an indoor pig factory in Derbyshire with 2,500 sows and around 20,000 piglets. The Soil Association object to plans for such a large-scale pig farm, which, they say, risks having a serious impact on human health - not to mention the welfare of the pigs. As a result controversial libel lawyers Carter Ruck have attempted to gag the campaign.
The Soil Association have now launched a major ‘Not in my Banger' campaign demanding that all pigs in the UK should be allowed the following three basic freedoms:
• 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 that severely restrict their movement
Take Action
Join the Soil Association's not in my Banger campaign
Not in my banger! Facebook page
Vote with your pocket: when buying pork look for products labelled as ‘outdoor bred', ‘outdoor reared', ‘total outdoor', ‘free range' - or to be really sure, organic.
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