RSPCA warns of animal welfare catastrophe on pig farm culls

The RSPCA is urging the Government to take immediate action to stop the an emergency culls of healthy pigs.

The animal welfare charity, which has a farm assurance scheme with almost 4,000 members, said the crisis is bigger than an ‘on farm problem’ for the industry to solve and the Government needs to step in now and fix it, as they did for the fuel crisis.

Emma Slawinski, Director of Advocacy and Policy for the RSPCA, said hundreds of thousands of farm animals may suffer catastrophically if farmers are forced to cull on farm due to slaughterhouse and butchery worker shortages and transport difficulties.

She said: “I’ve heard people say, what does it matter where they are killed? They are going to die anyway. But on-farm culls will be traumatic for many animals and people alike.

“Slaughterhouses are specifically designed to kill animals. Shooting thousands of healthy pigs on a farm will be extremely difficult, even for a skilled expert. Pigs are intelligent animals, they are big and strong animals, weighing as much as an adult man, and getting a clean shot will be difficult, even for a skilled expert. Farmers will do their best but it will be incredibly distressing for the pigs being separated at slaughter.

“None of this meat will be able to enter the food chain, which is incredibly wasteful and disrespectful,” she added.

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