Footage obtained as part of an investigation into pig farms in four EU member states revealed the suffering of caged sows according to a report published on Thursday.
The investigation was launched by animal welfare NGO ‘Compassion in World Farming’ which initiated the End of Cage European Citizens’ Initiative on the banning of the use of cages for farmed animals. Under some kind of cover, the investigators visited openly 16 farms in Italy, France, Spain and Poland between February 2022 and May 2022.
The selected farms belong to different supply chains, from those supplying ‘premium’ ham to those supplying conventional pork meat.
According to the report, an estimated 90 % of the sows (adult female pigs) are kept in cages so small that they prevent practically all movement apart from standing up or lying down and where they have to endure lying in their own excrement and urine, something they would naturally avoid. The confinement in cages results in abnormal behaviours like bar biting and chewing the air.
In Poland the percentage of caged sows is estimated to 44 %. Overall, the conditions described in the report are typical for an estimated 85 % of the sows in the EU, according to Compassion in World Farming. The four countries in the report have major pig farm sectors with Spain ranked as the leader in pig farming.
“Companies keep selling goods publicly recognised as ‘quality” products, yet consumers are unaware that animals are abused in the process,” said Olga Kikou, Head of Compassion in World Farming EU.
“These dreadful realities should belong to the past. Citizens have spoken loud and clear that they want to see all animals freed from cages. It’s time for the EU to keep its promise to End the Cage Age without delay.”
The NGO is urging the European Commission to propose a ban on caged farming by mid-next year, she added, earlier than the Commission intends to do. In June 2021, the Commission promised to put forward a legislative proposal by 2023 to prohibit the use of cages for millions of farmed animals.
The commitment was in response to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “End the Cage Age”, which was supported by ca 1.4 million citizens across all EU member states. It will come as part of the ongoing revision of the animal welfare legislation under the Farm to Fork Strategy.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
