The industry

Here are some brief facts about the Australian pig meat industry.

  • In the most recent year of reporting (2016), we killed around 5 million pigs for human consumption. (The precise figure was 4,999,600 as reported by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN.)

  • That's more than 9 per minute.

  • 95% of pigs are born into factory farms. (Animals Australia)

  • They are generally killed at between 4 and 12 months of age (often 4-5 months), when they would otherwise live for 10-12 years.

  • There are around 260,000 breeding sows in a constant cycle of impregnation, birth and re-impregnation. Most live their entire life indoors. (Number 261,222 from Australian Pork Limited "Australian Pig Annual 2011-12”, PS1005, page 11)

  • The total pig population is nearly 2.3 million. By state (rounded): Queensland 639,000; Victoria 505,000; New South Wales 486,000; South Australia 373,000; Western Australia 269,000; and Tasmania 12,000 (Australian Pork Ltd, "Australian Pig Annual", 2011-12, PS1005, page 11).

  • There are around 2,200 establishments, including around 1,600 with sows. (Australian Pork Ltd, "Australian Pig Annual", 2011-12, PS1005, page 11).

  • Piglets are generally mutilated without anaesthetic. That includes tail docking, teeth clipping and ear notching. Castration without anaesthetic is also permitted by the industry code of practice, but is not as common in Australia as in some other countries. The industry code of practice states that ear notching (which is performed for identification purposes) should be carried out before piglets are seven days of age.

  • The code of practice allows sows to be confined day and night in sow stalls for the full term of their pregnancy, around 16.5 weeks. From 2017, the period will be limited to 6 weeks per pregnancy.

  • As reported by Ruth Hatten of Voiceless, the voluntary "ban" on sow stalls by peak industry body Australian Pork Ltd allows up to 11 days of confinement per pregnancy and is not binding on individual producers.

  • A "ban" on sow stalls by the Tasmanian government has been amended so as to limit their use to a maximum of 10 days per pregnancy. What about enforcing that and other requirements? The ABC has quoted Malcolm Caulfield from the Tasmanian Government's Animal Welfare Committee: "An inspector coming into a piggery and seeing a sow in a stall has no way of knowing how long that sow's been in the stall."

  • The ban on sow stalls by supermarket chain Coles only applies to their home brand products. They say the initiative benefits around 34,000 sows. Assuming the general move away from sow stalls by rival Woolworths is benefiting a similar number, that leaves up to 190,000 sows around the country who could still be suffering from the use of sow stalls.

  • Coles still allows sow stalls to be used for up to 24 hours per pregnancy.

  • To our knowledge, Coles and Woolworths have taken no action in relation to other practices such as: the use of farrowing crates; castration without anaesthetic; tail docking without anaesthetic; teeth clipping  without anaesthetic; ear notching without anaesthetic; life-long confinement indoors. (See also "Pig Cruelty with Curtis and Coles".)

  • Sows are generally confined day and night in farrowing crates before and after giving birth, for up to six weeks in total. There is currently little, if any, intention to reduce the use of farrowing crates. (They serve a different purpose to that of sow stalls.)

  • How is the industry code of practice for the welfare of animals implemented? According to the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, "Under Australia’s constitutional arrangements, state and territory governments are responsible for animal welfare arrangements within their jurisdictions. The states and territories set and enforce animal welfare standards through animal welfare or prevention of cruelty to animals legislation. For Australia’s livestock industries the Model Codes of Practice for the Welfare of Animals establish an agreed set of principles and practices. The Model Codes were commissioned by the Primary Industries Standing Committee and endorsed by the Primary Industries Ministerial Council. These Codes are implemented to differing levels of state and territory legislation and have largely served as (voluntary) guides for people responsible for the welfare and husbandry of a range of livestock animals."

  • There are no legally enforceable standards for free range farming beyond the standard industry code of practice, and "free range" practices vary widely.

  • The non-statutory Humane Choice "true free range" standards for pigs do not allow: sow stalls; farrowing crates; tail docking; or teeth clipping. They stipulate that anaesthetic should be used if a piglet is castrated. They appear to allow ear notching for up to seven days of age without anaesthetic, provided it is "shown to be necessary". They refer to the practice as "surgery", rather than "mutilation". (The Humane Choice ®™ Certification Trademark is the property of Humane Society International.) (Please see footnote.)

Footnote: Melbourne Pig Save believes that all animal farming is a form of exploitation, and therefore unethical.
Images courtesy aussiepigs.com.au
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