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Source: ONE News -
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The New Zealand Pork Industry says the Sunday programme on pig farming is not representative of the pork industry as a whole and supports the investigation of the farm at the heart of the story.
TVNZ's Sunday programme aired a story in which Comedian Mike King along with animal activists from SAFE, broke into a crate pig farm.
The images have surprised many with a tvnz.co.nz message board on the issue being swamped with people expressing their shock at the practices uncovered.
"I am shocked that pigs are farmed in such an apauling way. The images were some-what disturbing and this is definitely a case of animal abuse! I am so disgusted by the conditions they are kept in," says one user.
"I was horrified watching the conditions in which these pigs raised, I like many others buy pork and had no idea how they were being raised ... I now feel very ashamed to be in a country that feels its acceptable to treat animals this way," says another.
Agriculture Minister David Carter is urging animal welfare group SAFE to reveal the location of the farm used in the programme so it can be inspected by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry animal welfare investigators.
"The television images were disturbing. It is essential we find out if this intensive pig farming operation is in breach of the Animal Welfare Act," he says.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon the NZ Pork Industry says they support the Minister's call for an investigation and say the practices on the farm where the hidden camera investigation was carried out, are not standard.
"The pork industry is phasing out long term use of sow stalls. We are more than half way there as an industry. The process will see the time reduced to four weeks which is in the interests of the sow - this is supported by scientific research," the statement says.
But for the SPCA a complete ban on sow stalls can't come soon enough and that farmers who use the stalls and farrowing crates are "behaving in a totally inhumane and unacceptable way."
SPCA National Chief Executive, Robyn Kippenberger says the
government needs to alter the Animal Welfare code to ban the
practices.
"It is total nonsense for a code that is meant to reflect the
humane principles of the 1999 Animal Welfare Act, to allow pigs to
be kept for most of their lives in such tight conditions that they
can't even turn round," says Kippenberger.
The use of sow stalls is banned in the UK and throughout many EU countries.
The SPCA says the only way to avoid eating pork or bacon
produced from these conditions is to purchase meat labelled 'free
farmed' or 'free range'.
Share your thoughts on the practice of using sow
stalls on the message board below.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentChrisNoaro said on 2010-07-24 @ 20:18 NZDT: Report abusive post
People need to realise that pigs will continue to be abused like this until we stop eating them. Farming and the meat indutry need to keep costs down to stay competitive so the interests of animals will always be low on the list. Also on the subject of free range - KILLING SOMETHING ISN'T TREATING IT NICELY.
trudiu said on 2010-07-24 @ 18:06 NZDT: Report abusive post
Well done again to Close up, and SAFE. Great to see this back in the spotlight. The biggest thing people can do to help these pigs is go vegan.
Freeranger said on 2010-07-24 @ 13:03 NZDT: Report abusive post
only to be replaced on the supermarket shelves by substandard imports
Freeranger said on 2010-07-24 @ 13:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
Hi,whilst I do not approve of the cruelty, I have a problem with Safe condemning all farmers.In fact it is the outdoor piggeries that are feeling it the hardest when demand goes down. Most outdoor pork producers have higher costs and getter mortality but get the same price as indoor guys which is set by what processors can import from overseas, which is garanteed to be from stalls. So lets support kiwi farmers try to improve instead of running the outdoor piggeries out of business.
whiteheron said on 2010-07-24 @ 12:26 NZDT: Report abusive post
Come on!! This is supposed to be NZ and this is not the NZ way of farming disgusting we should boycott all commercial pork products for 6 months and go back to buying from the local butcher who buys from local farms that have a good working ethic. Lets face it there are good healthy pig farms out there and scenes like this destroy their reputation as well.