Pig welfare campaign begins with a Bang(er)

Not in my Cuppa partner organisation, the Soil Association, has launched a fantastic new campaign called Not in my Banger, and it’s all about pig welfare.

WSPA believes, just like the Soil Association, that a pig able to root around and exercise outdoors, is generally a happy and contented pig.

The Not In My Banger campaign has been set up to fight the trend towards large-scale industrial pig farming in the UK, just as WSPA’s Not in my Cuppa is opposing the threat from mega-dairies.

WSPA has campaigned long and hard against the rise of factory farming due to its impact on animal welfare, the environment and people, and is urging Not In My Cuppa supporters to check out Not In My Banger.

Read more about Not in my Banger >>

Read more about Not in my Cuppa >>

Mega pig farm

Midland Pig Producers (MPP) is hoping to build an indoor pig unit holding 2,500 mother pigs and around 20,000 piglets in Foston, Derbyshire.

If the application goes ahead, this pig farm would be the largest in the UK.

WSPA is opposed to factory farming and is working hard to end the misery of billions of farm animals suffering in terrible, inhumane conditions the world over. We want all farm animals to be reared in the space they need and in the environment they most prefer. In the case of dairy cows, for instance, the subject of Not In My Cuppa, this includes having access to grass throughout the grazing season, rather than spending their lives confined in sheds.

MPP intend to farm their pigs entirely indoors. However, they have spoken about providing their sows with straw bedding as well as enabling them to give birth (or farrow) freely rather than suffer the dreadful, unnatural restrictions of being confined in inhumane sow stalls.

WSPA is watching developments at Foston closely and will add its voice to other animal welfare organisations in pressing MPP to honour their word, or object to the proposals in the strongest terms.

If you believe pigs should be able to root, exercise and socialise outside, and not have to suffer the painful mutilation of tail docking, you can support the Soil Association’s campaign by saying Not in my Banger >>

Libel case

The Soil Association has compiled scientific evidence from around the world which suggests that raising pigs on this scale could risk having a serious impact on human health – as well as on the welfare of pigs.

They objected to MPP’s planning application based on this comprehensive and detailed research.

But in a development described by the Guardian newspaper as “legal bullying”,  Foston’s developers hired libel lawyers Carter Ruck to write to the Soil Association saying that its objection to MPP’s plans was defamatory.

The Soil Association’s legal counsel has said: “Libel law is intended to protect an individual’s human right to a good reputation from someone who is trying to deliberately wreck it. It should never be used to prevent criticism in a public process of a plan by a large agribusiness which may have serious heath effects on the community.”

WSPA is very concerned by this. Big business must not be allowed to silence legitimate concern and stifle debate by using the threat of legal action. A key part of our own Not in my Cuppa campaign has been a formal objection to the planning authorities to plans by Nocton Dairies to create the UK’s first mega dairy. We will fight all attempts to keep us or our like-minded partners quiet as we speak out on behalf of animals, and are firmly supporting the Soil Association in this dispute.

Read about the issue in the Guardian >>