From harsh confinement to cannibalism, mutilation and blunt force trauma, pigs across the globe suffer on factory farms. Discover everything you need to know about this secretive industry.
Harsh confinement, artificial insemination and painful slaughter: how many of these industrial practices are featured on pork packaging at your local grocery store?
From birth to death, the pigs used to make bacon, ham and other pork products live a miserable life. The industry’s attempts to hide this sinister secret with “humane” labels, colorful packaging, and full-scale marketing campaigns have worked… until now.
Consumers are discovering the truth about pig farming. Here’s everything you need to know to join them:
1. The mother pig lives in a small metal cage
Pigs used for farming spend most of their lives locked in small metal cages where they cannot turn around or move forward more than a step. The only time the mother pig walks is when she is led from the gestation pen—where she spent her entire pregnancy—to the farrowing pen, where she gives birth.
Fetal crates have been banned in 11 US states and several countries. However, when the mother pig bites the metal bars in pain – often foaming at the mouth or hitting her head on the metal bars –many companies still allow them into their supply chains.
2. Pigs are artificially inseminated to reproduce
Artificial breeding has become a standard of the industrial livestock industry. Workers collect the male’s sperm cells and introduce them into the female’s reproductive system using a catheter. This is often done in unsanitary conditions by inexperienced workers, leading to infections and even death.
Female pigs used for breeding undergo this process repeatedly over many years, often leading to organ failure. After many inseminations, the mother pig is finally slaughtered.
3. Piglets were mutilated without anesthesia
The piglet goes through a series painful but legal mutilation, usually does not require anesthesia. These include:
- Queue: To prevent tail biting – a behavior that results from stressful living conditions – the piglets’ tails are amputated. Usually this is done with a hot iron.
- Cut teeth: To avoid injury while breastfeeding, workers use pliers to pull out the piglets’ teeth.
- Neuter: Workers use rubber rings to cut off circulation to the male scrotum, causing tissue death.
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4. Cannibalism is rampant in the pig industry
Animal Equality’s investigations into the global pig industry have found struggling pigs exhibiting unnatural behaviour. During one such investigation inside five pig farms in Spain, investigators found pigs gnawing on each other’s carcasses.
Similar findings were uncovered in a 2018 investigation in Spain, which subsequently resulted in Criminal charges are being filed against the two defendants.
5. The piglet was killed by force
In an investigation into a “quality assurance” farm in the UK, Animal Equality investigators found that Piglets were beaten to death by staff. Others were slammed onto the concrete floor.
Investigation footage shows conscious piglets writhing in pain after blunt force trauma, often struggling for several minutes before dying.
Killing piglets with a hammer is a common industry method recommended by many industry manuals. It is often used for piglets that are too small or weak for the industry to make a profit.
6. Pigs live in unsanitary conditions
Animal Equality’s investigations repeatedly found pigs lying in their own feces, leaving many farms facing cockroach infestations. In some cases, feeding troughs are also full of feces and corpses are scattered around.
In one investigate a pig farm in ItalyInvestigators found the pig’s head, legs and other body parts scattered throughout the farm. The barrels were filled with pig carcasses, a violation of Italian law. In one previous survey of this same farmMummies and corpses full of worms have been found.
Pigs from this farm are then packaged for sale on grocery shelves with the “Made in Italy Excellence” label.
7. Pigs die before reaching the slaughterhouse
Due to injuries and unsanitary conditions, many pigs die before reaching the slaughterhouse. Investigations by Animal Equality found piglets were left to die on the factory farm floor, just feet away from their mothers in their pens.
Meanwhile, adult pigs become lame and suffer from other diseases. Rising mortality rates on factory farms have caused alarm among industry experts, who note that 2023 is the worst year on record for pigs used for livestock.first
8. Pigs are raised to suffer
Pigs are bred to grow unusually large, often reaching 250 pounds in just six months.2 Those used for breeding can grow even larger, with many weighing up to 550 pounds or more.3 This rapid growth is a product of genetic engineering and antibiotic use, along with restrictions on pig movement within barns. Their unnatural size often causes immobility and other diseases.
9. Pigs are beaten on the way to the slaughterhouse
When workers load and unload pigs onto transport trucks, they often kick and hit the weak animals to coax them to move. The frightened animals are then exposed to loud noises, harsh weather, and prolonged periods of starvation during the long journey, which can last up to 28 hours nonstop.
Many lay in their own feces throughout the journey, some slipped and fell into their waste. Very often, traffic accidents cause injuries in vehicles, causing some animals to fall out of trucks and onto the road. Others succumb to their injuries and illnesses on the way to the slaughterhouse.
10. Pigs feel pain when slaughtered
Although the law requires slaughterhouses to stun pigs before slaughter, this method is often ineffective. In some cases, workers deliver electrical current to the head through a ray gun. In other cases, pigs are forced into carbon dioxide chambers, where they desperately try to breathe and try to escape.
The pig is then shackled by one leg and lifted up, often slitting the pig’s throat while still conscious. Many people feel the pain of sharp blades and suffer because of their bodies Throw into hot water tank.
Take a stand against the cruelty of factory farming
Similar to humans and other animals, pigs express emotions, feel pain, and form bonds with others. In the industrial farming industry, these intelligent animals undergo separation, mutilation, and trauma.
Today, you can stand up against this cycle of pain by sharing the truth with your loved ones. Send this article to a friend or family member and invite them to join you for a plant-based dinner tonight.
SAVE ANIMALS FROM ABUSE
Pigs, cows and other animals all feel pain and deserve to be protected from abuse.
You can protect these intelligent animals by choosing plant-based alternatives.
- Shike, J. (2024, February 5). Sow mortality hits all-time high in 2023: What can producers do now? Pork trading. https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/hog-production/sow-death-loss-reaches-all-time-high-2023-what-can-producers-do-now
- Waxman, A. (2020, November 10). 6 cruel ways pigs are mistreated on livestock farms. Humane Federation. https://thehumaneleague.org/article/factory-farmed-pigs
- Schulz, L. (2021, July). Producers renew pig herds. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/schulz/SchJul21.html
