Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

New footage of 'appalling' conditions for pigs

Updated at 7:00 pm on 10 April 2010

The Pork Industry Board says covert footage from three Waikato piggeries showing sick pigs in filthy conditions isn't representative of the industry.

The animal welfare group SAFE (Save Animals from Exploitation), which is distributing the footage of what it calls "appalling" conditions for pigs, says it proves the industry has failed to fix serious problems.

Submissions close next week on a new pig welfare code that would limit the use of stalls and crates. Pork Industry Board chief executive Sam McIvor says, however, that the industry is already making changes, with a new auditing regime.

SAFE spokesperson Hans Kriek says the footage was taken last week by Open Rescue, the group that secretly took media personality Mike King inside a pig farm last year.

Mr Kriek says the farrowing crates shown in the footage are used to cage sows and piglets for four weeks after birth.

"The crates are so small that the sow can only stand up or lie down," he says. "She can't move forwards, backwards, she can't turn around.

"And actually these farrowing crates are deemed to be in breach of New Zealand animal welfare legislation in that they don't allow the animals to express their normal behaviour."

Mr McIvor says farrowing crates are a proven way of keeping sows, preventing them from rolling on piglets and attacking piggery workers.

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