Campaigners raise alarm about ‘illegal’ pig farming practice | UK | News
The UK is failing to enforce its own legal ban on the routine tail-cutting of pigs, campaigners have warned.
This means removing part of the tail to prevent tail biting, a behavior caused by stress, overcrowding, or lack of enrichment.
Edie Bowles, chief executive of The Animal Law Foundation, said: “Data shows 85% of pig farms continue to cut pig tails despite it being illegal when done routinely.
“This also reveals the troubling lack of enforcement of animal welfare laws: where there are protections for farmed animals, they are rarely upheld and there appears to be no prosecution for routine tail cutting.”
The animal welfare group warned that the practice had become the default in pig farming in the UK, unlike in countries such as Finland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
Studies have shown that serious injuries, infections and illnesses can occur when pigs bite each other’s tails.
Ms Bowles said tail docking continued in the UK “not because it was necessary, but because it was easy”.
He added: “Other countries have shown that pigs can be raised without this painful mutilation. The law already requires a suitable environment and if provided would solve the significant problem of tail biting, but there is reluctance to implement this in a meaningful way and address the root cause of this welfare problem.”
The Animal Law Foundation has called on the UK government to enforce the current ban on routine tail docking and provide clear guidance to veterinary professionals who must grant docking authority to prevent them from allowing illegal mutilations.
Morgane Alting von Geusau, advocacy and communications coordinator for the Animal Law Foundation, said: “Tail biting is a warning sign that something is wrong.” “Cutting pigs’ tails avoids confronting the failures of intensive farming systems at the expense of animal welfare and against the law.”
