Unhappy Mother's Day

Mother pigs still suffer in New Zealand, says animal group

Each year in New Zealand around 30,000 women will celebrate their first Mother’s Day. Each year an equal number of other mothers have nothing to celebrate, as for them motherhood means deprivation and suffering.

This month marks the 5-year anniversary of comedian and ex-pork ambassador Mike King’s exposé of the cruelty of factory pig farms, yet thousands of mother pigs are still confined to cruel crates, says animal advocacy group SAFE. These unfortunate animals spend weeks at a time crammed between metal bars, unable to turn around.

“SAFE’s campaign against sow stalls resulted in them being banned at the end of next year,” says SAFE executive director Hans Kriek. “Sadly however, once they have had their piglets mother pigs will still be confined to farrowing crates where they will be unable to turn around for up to five weeks at a time. The Government has acknowledged that farrowing crates breach the obligations of New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act as they do not allow the animals to express their normal behaviour, yet allows pig farmers to continue to inflict this suffering on their animals,” says Mr Kriek.

To highlight the plight of factory-farmed sows, SAFE will launch a bill board campaign [pictured] this Mother’s Day to draw public attention to the ongoing cruelty in the New Zealand pig industry.

SAFE is calling on the public, and on mothers in particular, to show solidarity with mother pigs by boycotting all pork, starting this Mother’s Day. “As consumers we can all make a big difference for animals and the best way we can help them is by not eating them,” says Mr Kriek.

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