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HOME>CAMPAIGNS>Ban Sow Stalls! |
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CAMPAIGNS >KFC Cruelty >RSPCA Endorses Cruelty >Outlaw the Animal Circus! >EKKA Exposed >Ban Sow Stalls!
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Pleas for help
AAQ contacted Queensland's RSPCA as well as the DPI in relation to the findings of intensive piggery investigations in Queensland, with little response. More pressure is needed to urge these organisations who's role is to oversee and protect animals used in agriculture, that affirmative action must be taken to ban sow stalls and to end the cruelty of intensive pig farming. Byron Hall Chief Inspector RSPCA Queensland PO Box 6177 Fairfield Gardens QLD 4113 The Hon Henry Palaszczuk The Minister for Primary Industries GPO Box 46 Brisbane QLD 4000 Senator Andrew Bartlett Australian Democrats 7/421 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 20th March 2004 National Campaign to Ban Sow Stalls Investigation of Pine Grove Piggery, Doug Hall Pty Ltd and Gatton University Piggery by Animal Activism QLD On 14th of February 2003 Animal Activism QLD investigated Doug Hall’s Pine Grove Piggery, Cecil Plains Rd, Milmerran. Evidence was recorded of single stalls measuring 1.85 metres by 0.53 and farrowing crates measuring 1.905 metres by 0.6510 metres that did not measure up to the standard size set down by the Code, there was a dead piglet in an undersized farrowing crate with mother and other piglets also the usual breech of inadequate fire fighting equipment. At Gatton University intensive piggery evidence was recorded of undersized single stalls 2 metres by 0.55metres, inadequate fire fighting equipment and pigs without water. These are all breaches of the And RSPCA’s Five Freedoms which are widely accepted as a standard of animal welfare: Freedom from: • Hunger and thirst • Discomfort • Pain, injury or disease • Fear and distress • Freedom to express normal behaviours: In intensive pig farms the last 4 of these minimum standards are breached on a daily basis and ignored by those employed to protect all animals. Pigs suffer greatly during the rearing, slaughter and transportation process to arrive on the consumer’s plate. Sows spend their pregnancies in individual sow stalls, separated from each other by metal bars. It is still legal to chain a sow to the stall by a collar around the neck or stomach. If someone kept a dog in this way they would be prosecuted for cruelty. Before giving birth, sows are moved to a smaller space called a farrowing crate. This is surrounded by metal bars to protect piglets from injury. Heavily pregnant pigs with milk-swollen udders have to lie on cold, hard concrete. They have no straw to make a nest, as they would naturally. Concrete pens and stalls are small and uncomfortable; most of the pigs' natural behaviours are prevented, leading to stress and frustration. Intensive housing is a blatant breach of the Five Freedoms. The law doesn't offer much protection to pigs, considering that it is legal to keep them in cramped stalls and to cut off part of their tail. Apart from the Animal Care and Protection Act (ACPA), there is also a Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals - The Pig (2nd ed.). It is this Code that sets the legal standards. For example, the ACPA states that all animals must have exercise, but according to the Code: Clearly normal exercise is impossible in these confined spaces, but it is still legal to keep pigs in this way because the Code of Practice says so. The Code says: "It is desirable that permanent housing in stalls be phased out" and "Developed alternatives to the current farrowing crates should be considered", but it still allows stalls and farrowing crates. Why then do the RSPCA and DPI consistently fail to act when presented with evidence of breaches by piggery farmers? Animal Activism QLD exposed breaches at Doug Hall’s piggery and poultry farm in 2001. The evidence was submitted to the DPI and RSPCA to date we understand that the RSPCA have not followed up on the evidence of cruelty submitted to them regarding pigs (despite the RSPCA being the main legal authority for enforcing the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001). Conditions at Doug Hall’s piggeries consistently fall below required standards and reports of this have been ignored by the RSPCA. It is alarming to see that Gatton University also breach basic animal welfare standards. This reflects the standard of animal protection in this state and the fact that QLD farmers are a law unto themselves as animal protection groups like the RSPCA consistently turn away from evidence of blatant breaches of animal management practice of QLD farmers. We urge all with the power to act on the extreme animal cruelty cases presented to you in this document and enclosed photographs to intervene and prosecute those who do not meet required standards. Pigs need to have the same protection as other animals, as stated by the RSPCA’ s Five Freedoms. We call for a phase out of individual sow stalls and farrowing crates in line with world’s best practice. Yours sincerely, Spokesperson for the collective References Animals Australia www.animalsaustralia.org Animal Liberation NSW www.animal-lib.org.au/ Animal Liberation SA www.animal-lib.org.au/ |
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