Farmers’ union denounces squalid conditions revealed at pig farms

Food authority to inspect suspected farms

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Juha Marttila, chairman of the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) has sharply condemned the squalid living conditions of pigs as depicted in photographs secretly taken by the animal welfare organisation Oikeutta eläimille (“Justice for Animals”) at Finish pig farms.
      “The pictures were terrible”, Marttila says.
      The photographs show pigs with sores and scratches on their skin. Some lie in excrement, and some had their tails bitten off. Carcasses of dead pigs were lying out of doors.
     
However, Marttila also insists that there has been progress in the promotion of animal well-being, and that the secretly photographed material is not typical of conditions on pig farms - although he adds that even a single farm where the animals are mistreated, is one too many.
      The Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) is asking state-employed provincial veterinarians to immediately inspect the farms where the photographs were taken.
      Oikeutta eläimille says that it has made reports of three pig farms to authorities. In at least one of them, the municipal veterinarian had given the proprietors clean papers. However, according to the animal welfare activists, the shortcomings continue.
     
The European Commission has criticised the Finnish practice, under which municipal veterinarians in Finland have been allowed to both treat a farm’s animals, and make inspections, creating a possible conflict of interest.
      Finland plans to eliminate the dual role with the help of a new team of 15 veterinarians in a supervisory role.
     
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre) proposed on Thursday that special farms for “happy pigs” could be established in Finland.
      The special piggeries could be set up alongside regular ones, but the meat that they produce could command a slightly higher price owing to higher production costs.
      Happy pigs would lie on fresh straw, and ventilation would be kept in top shape.
      Anttila said that she does not approve of the way pigs were being treated in pictures released by animal activists. She emphasises, however, that treatment of animals on the farms is constantly improving.
     
Anttila pointed out that pork farms face serious economic challenges. Finland now has more than 2,300 pig farms. More than 300 of them plan to close down by the end of 2010.
      “The price of feed has increased, but that of meat has not gone up correspondingly”, Anttila says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Extensive changes demanded in animal welfare rules (10.12.2009)
  Anttila promises extensive improvements in conditions on pig farms (26.11.2009)
  Three Finnish pig farms may face charges over violation of animal welfare legislation (4.3.2008)

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