Call for ban after footage shows stressed sows in farrowing pens

The use of restrictive pens to temporarily house pregnant pigs in Britain severely compromises their welfare, can traumatise them and should be banned, experts have said.

- Haroon Siddique

Analysis by Animal Equality UK of footage from a farm in Devon showed that three mother pigs in farrowing crates spent more than 90% of their time lying down, with one not standing up for a day. On average they bit the bars (a sign of stress) more than once an hour.

The farm is part of the Red Tractor scheme, used to mark food produced to a "high standard", and supplies Tesco. Animal Equality UK says it is illustrative of the wider problem with farrowing crates, with more than 200,000 sows a year confined in them in the UK.