Uproar and Animal Liberation Victoria have teamed up to save pigs from slaughter this Christmas. Our undercover investigation at a piggery in Northern Victoria aims to draw attention to the miserable lives experienced by over five million pigs raised for slaughter in Australia each year. We also rescued two piglets, Coco and Chloe, who were in urgent need of veterinary attention, and who are now fighting for their lives.
Saving Chloe
Our rescue teams gained access to a shed where pregnant pigs are enclosed in small farrowing crates. This is where they give birth and nurse their newborn babies through metal bars. These crates are so small the pigs don’t have enough room to turn around. Such ‘nurseries’ are where almost all of the pigs killed in Australia for their meat are born.
The only time she will see the light of the sun is when she is trucked to the slaughterhouse. She will never know freedom.
The newborn babies have their teeth clipped, their tails cut off, and are castrated with no pain relief. These mutilations all happen in front of their mother who can only watch helplessly from behind her bars. She will spend her entire life on metal floors in these small farrowing crates and equally small sow stalls, repeatedly impregnated so that her children can be taken and slaughtered for food. This ends when she is no longer economically viable and is sent to the same slaughterhouse where so many of her children were killed before her.
No bedding is provided.
In one farrowing crate we found a malnourished piglet who was barely able to walk or open her eyes, she was shivering and being walked over by her larger brothers and sisters. It was obvious that without urgent veterinary attention she would not have long to live.
Chloe shivering and barely able to walk
We could not leave her there to slowly die.
Chloe on her way to freedom and veterinary care. Thanks to the Uproar and ALV rescue teams Chloe now has a fighting chance, and if she survives will be lovingly cared for, and be able to live out the rest of her life in freedom
The sows we observed during our investigation were clearly miserable. Many of them had large scabby wounds on their bodies and several had open wounds on their teats. Because of the metal bars they are unable to properly nurture or interact with their young. Their deeply rooted instincts to build nests, wallow in mud, dig for roots, give birth in privacy, watch over, protect and bond with their babies are completely ignored.
Up to 90% of sows exhibit behaviours which in a human could be diagnosed as signs of clinical depression, including severe listlessness, apathy, glazed eyes and lack of responsiveness.
Young pigs wean naturally at the age of three months, but on the factory farm they are abruptly removed at 3-4 weeks. The sow is then returned to the sow stall and impregnated again, to begin the whole miserable cycle once more.
In another farrowing crate we observed a piglet whose leg was so inflamed she was unable to walk, she could only move by dragging herself along the floor with her front legs. There were no signs that she had received any veterinary care for this crippling inflammation.
Coco's joints were so inflamed she could only drag herself along the floor
Coco's injuries being assessed by the rescue team
Coco on her way to receive veterinary care. She is in a lot of pain as she heals, but the vet is positive about her chances
We also took in several boxes of tasty fruit and vegetables for the pigs, which they happily gobbled down.
Yum.
Some of the babies we couldn't rescue. Unfortunately for them as long as people keep eating meat they will die terrified at the slaughterhouse
Our teams then entered one of the ‘grower’ sheds to document the conditions inside. When the piglets are taken from their mothers this is where they go to be fattened up for slaughter.
Life in the 'grower' shed
Waiting to die. It's a pig's life
Rescue Video
This video taken by our rescuers shows the misery endured daily inside Australian pig farms.
Latest Update
Update: Read about how Coco and Chloe are doing post rescue >
You can help!
The kindest action you can take to help animals this Christmas is not eating them. Visit Vegan Easy for a huge range of delicious cruelty free Christmas recipes.
Don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page to receive your free personalised e-Card which you can use to let the world know you care about animals and refuse to eat them. These are great to use on your Facebook or Twitter accounts to draw attention to the suffering of pigs on factory farms.
Thank you so much
