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Source: ONE News -
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The Green Party says a recommendation that pigs be kept in stalls and crates for no more than four weeks after mating or farrowing is a cop out.
The four week maximum is being suggested by the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in its draft code of welfare for pigs.
Green Party MP Sue Kedgley is questioning why four weeks is a suitable time to keep a sow in a cage.
She also asks who would be monitoring to make sure the time frame is adhered to.
A man who helped write the new draft welfare code would have liked it to go further.
The code suggests a complete ban, but at some yet to be determined date - with 2017 put up as a discussion point.
In the meantime the four week maximum suggestion looks likely to come into effect in 2013.
Chairman of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, John Hellstrom, says the dilemma is if they push too hard, the industry will not be able to cope with the economic impact of the change.
He says that could see New Zealand substituting local pork for imported pork.
Hellstrom says they do not want to export a welfare problem off-shore.
Mike King, the promoter for the Pork Industry Board - turned campaigner for the welfare of pigs, says the code is designed to please the pork industry
He is disputing the claim from Animal Welfare Advisory Committee Chairman John Hellstrom that pigs during pregnancy can be aggressive and inflict severe injuries on each other if they are not separated.
King says Hellstrom should explore the separation methods that free range farmers are using, because that practice seems to be going very well without the use of sow crates.
