News & Media: Vegan activists dump dozens of dead piglets outside Premier Jacinta Allan’s office
Vegan activists dump dozens of dead piglets outside Premier Jacinta Allan’s office
Vegan activists have dumped dozens of dead piglets outside the offices of Premier Jacinta Allan in a bid to draw attention to new footage highlighting “filthy and cruel conditions” at piggeries across Victoria.
Animal welfare advocacy group Farm Transparency Project targeted the Premier’s Melbourne offices on Tuesday morning in protest against what they said was the Allan government’s refusal to address urgent animal welfare issues.
It comes after activists released covertly filmed footage of what they said was “shocking, filthy and cruel conditions” taken at 20 Victorian piggeries over the weekend.
The graphic footage, which has been viewed by the Herald Sun, appears to show pigs, some sick and dying while others are already dead, covered in their own waste in narrow cages.
About 50 protesters placed dozens of dead piglets outside the government offices at Treasury Place.
The piglets were laid on a white sheet and surrounded with flowers and photos from the farms where activists said they had been found.
Activists said the piglets had died from malnutrition and illness, or were killed by workers for being too small or weak.
In Victoria it is legal for farm workers to use manual blunt force trauma to kill young piglets weighing up to 15 kilograms.
The government maintains it is considered a humane method when correctly carried out.
Late last year, the government responded to a parliamentary inquiry into pig welfare in Victoria where it gave its support to work with industry to find an alternative method to euthanise piglets.
The government also gave its “in principle” support to phasing out gas stunning of pigs, and the introduction of CCTV in abattoirs.
Despite that, Farm Transparency Project executive director Chris Delforce said the government’s response didn’t go far enough and Tuesday’s rally aimed to highlight the “serious, systemic issues” in Victorian pig farms and slaughterhouses, despite “countless, damning investigations”.
“The Allan government opted to ignore the overwhelming evidence presented to it that this is an industry that is rotten to its core, utterly dependent on abuse and secrecy, and beyond redemption; an industry that must be urgently phased out,” he said.
“It’s opted to ignore the vast majority of more than 10,000 public submissions calling for a better world for these sentient, intelligent animals. Instead all it has promised is even further taxpayer funding and self-regulation.”
Last year, Agriculture Minister Ros Spence said she looked forward to working with industry and animal advocacy groups to improve the way pigs are treated on Victorian farms.
