Recent covert filming of farrowing crates on pig units funded by Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) has been widely publicised as part of the ‘End the Cage Age’ campaign.
The NPA said it was greatly disappointed that such an influential organisation was using such tactics, which included leaving cameras on site and filming staff, and held a call with the Food Business Team on August 13 to express its concerns.
The covert filming of farrowing crates, which are legal and maintain the welfare of piglets, not only normalises the behaviour and encourages others to do the same, it also breaches the biosecurity of the pig unit, which can have serious implications on both pig welfare and the health of the herd.
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The NPA has highlighted these risks and asked CIWF to cease this practice and instead to work more collaboratively with industry.
To that end we discussed jointly developing a potential support package with Government that would provide financial support for producers who wish to trial free farrowing systems.
A face to face meeting has been planned for September.