Wasleys Piggery

Wasleys Piggery, near Mallala SA, is one of South Australia's largest pig farms, separated into 4 modules. The footage and photographs on this page are from the main breeding module, which features 16 sheds containing industry-standard farrowing crates, sow stalls and group sow housing. There is also a feedmill on site.

Numerous dead piglets were found in the farrowing crates and in the aisles between them. Piglets' ears are cut (or "notched") at a young age without pain relief. Sows were found with pressure sores and other injuries.

In 2006, Senator Amanda Vanstone (Immigration Minister) owned a significant stake in Wasley's Piggery. It is alleged that her husband was at the time a director of the piggery. In November 2006, a group of 25 animal rights activists from around Australia converged on Wasley's Piggery and chained themselves into the stalls in protest at the conditions.

On 25 November 2015, Wasleys Piggery was hit by the Pinery Bushfire. Initially 9000 deaths and near-destruction of the entire piggery were reported in the media, however subsequent reports reduced this estimate significantly. A trusted source who visited the piggery on the 27th was able to confirm that the damage from the fire was much smaller than first reported, most of it being to a minority of eco-sheds containing sows at the south-western module, and a couple of grower sheds at the central module. While it's difficult to know exactly how many pigs perished, the most recent report of 500 seems the most accurate, though it could be up to 2000 as reported on the 26th. At the time of this visit on the 27th, all bodies had been cleared and disposed of, with several of the damaged sheds now containing pigs again. The largest module - the eastern block of 16 farrowing and sow housing sheds, from where the footage and photographs on this site were taken in 2014 - was untouched. Those lucky pigs get to die from excruciating asphyxiation in a carbon dioxide gas chamber instead.