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Source: ONE News -
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The row over intensive pig farming is set to take a new turn with the Chairman of the New Zealand Pork Board agreeing to take the industry's former advertising frontman Mike King to check on more pig farms.
King has already broken into one crate pig farm with animal activists and says he's ashamed to have promoted pork produced by such farming.
The expose on TVNZ's Sunday programme involving King has caused outrage and prompted a government investigation.
King said pigs were caged so tightly they were unable to move and were screaming and frothing at the mouth.
Now, the Pork Board chairman Chris Trengrove has agreed to an invitation by Close Up presenter Mark Sainsbury to accompany the programme on random checks of other pig farms on Tuesday.
Animal rights activist Hans Kriek of SAFE says he'll go along as well and will show Trengrove a few farms where he won't believe his eyes.
Trengrove told Close Up the Pork Board was as appalled as anyone to see the Sunday footage of the crate farm.
But he says it is not typical of the industry and he thinks probably King knows it's not typical.
Trengrove says he has not been on a pig farm in that condition and he supports the Minister of Agriculture investigating that farm.
Trengrove says probably over half the sows in New Zealand are free range outdoors or stall free. He says the industry has been moving away from the use sow stalls for some years down to a point where they will be used for four weeks, for the safety of the sow.
He says when sows are confined in buildings after they've been weaned they're very aggressive to each other and stalls are the safest place for them.
King says he doesn't know if the farm in question is atypical.
He says he would never have taken the advertising job if he had known those conditions existed.
He says the money he made from promoting pork has left a sour taste in his mouth and he should have investigated properly before accepting the job.
"I feel guilty about the fact I never investigated this properly. I probably like most of the farmers continuing this barbaric practice was blinded by the money. And that's something I have to live with," says King.
However Kriek says the crate farm shown is extremely typical of an intensive pig farm.
He says he has seen such conditions on quite a few farms, but what the farmer in this case was doing was not breaking any law. Kriek says what should be discussed is the fact the law allows such practices to happen.
Meanwhile in Wellington on Monday, protesters set up outside the Pork Board. And in Christchurch animal rights campaigners targeted the office of Agriculture Minister David Carter, who on Sunday night admitted he didn't know it was happening.
Dr Peter O'Hara of the National Animal Welfare Committee who advises the minister on how pigs should be treated is okay with what he saw on Sunday. He says pigs need to be contained for their own safety.
"If viewers were to see the pictures of sows in a group housing situation fighting amongst themselves, I think they would find it just as distressing," says O'Hara.
In another twist, the Pork Board has postponed Wednesday's long awaited Best Bacon Awards while the crate farming debate rages.
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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.