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| "When an activity raises
threats of harm to human health or the environment,
precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and
effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the
public, should bear the burden of proof." - Wingspread
Statement of the Precautionary Principle. |
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Animal Welfare:
Factory Made Pigs
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Millions of
sows spend entire lifetimes in narrow steel crates parked like cars
unable to turn or even lie down comfortably. (photo courtesy of
Farm
Sanctuary)
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Since a continuous supply of pigs is needed to stock the factory,
producers must maintain large numbers of breeding sows to meet the demand.
Hog factories place a premium on crowding to get the most production out of
the least possible space.
Pregnant sows are confined for most of their lives in narrow individual
stalls. No exercise or nesting is possible even though the urge for such
behavior is strong. Days before her piglets are born, the sow is moved to
a farrowing stall. This is another type of steel cage that allows her only
to stand or lie down and holds her in position to feed the baby pigs.
The piglets are weaned at three weeks and put into
"nurseries"—pens where they may be sorted according to size
and sex to reduce fighting and aggressive competition for food and their
tails are cut off. At about ten weeks of age they are removed to a
"finishing" building to be fattened for market.
The mother is re-impregnated as soon as possible and sent back to the sow
crate to begin the cycle all over again.
Sow crates have been banned in the U.K. and some other European nations on
welfare grounds. In Canada, some producers have abandoned sow crates in
favour of "group" or "loose" housing, where small
groups of sows live together in large straw pens.
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Please click the picture above for Big Sky
Farms Inc. and their section on Animal Welfare
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