News & Media: Extreme Cruelty Revealed at 18th Piggery

Extreme Cruelty Revealed at 18th Piggery

By Aussie Farms
Wed 28 May 2014, 12:00am

In response to calls from pig farmers for ‘ag-gag’ style laws, animal activists have released footage and photographs depicting extreme cruelty at an 18th Australian piggery.

Owned by the Pig Improvement Company (PIC), Grong Grong Piggery near Narrandera is one of the largest piggeries in NSW.

“This piggery has the largest sow stall shed we've ever seen, with 8 rows of tiny metal cages stretching far into the distance, confining hundreds and hundreds of pregnant sows for up to 16 weeks at a time,” said Aussie Farms operations director Chris Delforce, to whom the footage was provided.

“Several piglets were found in pieces - some in the farrowing crates, some in the aisles of the farrowing crates, and some outside. One piglet had been ripped in half with his legs nearby. Another piglet's head was found in the aisle near his legs. The back half of a piglet was found in a farrowing crate. Several buckets of dead piglets were found inside and outside the farrowing sheds. Trolleys full of rotting piglet tails were found in the farrowing crate sheds - tails are cut off at a few days of age without anaesthetic - and many sows were found with pressure sores and other injuries.”

“This is meant to be one of the best... yet it feels like a horror movie. Clearly, this is what farmers and Australian Pork Limited are so desperate to hide. If everyone knew that this is how their industry operated, they’d be shut down overnight.”

The footage and photos can be viewed at www.aussiepigs.com/piggeries/grong-grong.

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