Recently, more people are concerned about animal welfare and animal rights. Speaking of them, I attended an educational training course hosted by the National Animal Industry Foundation in Taipei a few weeks ago. During the course, the speaker said that the reason for Taiwan to legalize tail docking of swine is because when the density of animals in a narrow space is too high, the tail of a pig can easily cause other pigs to feel upset and irritable, which could cause cannibalism, especially the situation of tail biting. Since tails are close to the anus, it’s easy to cause bacterial infection. Although this is a very practical issue, I literally laughed when I heard this. This sounds like a law designed to promote animal welfare and reduce the number of unhappy and aggressive pigs; however, isn't the best welfare for animals is to let them grow naturally with plenty of space to move around? It makes me wonder if tail-docking swine is in favor of animal welfare for pigs or economic welfare for farmers who own the pigs. This questions every country in which tail docking its pigs is legal.
From an animal rights standpoint, perhaps a fully coiled tail is the most important animal welfare indicator for pigs. Because it represents high-quality management and respect for the integrity of a pig. If a farmer sends his pigs into the slaughterhouse without any sign of tail clipping or tail biting, it is obvious that the farm must have a very good management system. It shows that pigs have plenty of room to move around and that they remain emotionally stable throughout their captivity.
How to maximize the economic benefits of breeding? How to use the limited land to raise enough animals to meet the market need? Intensive farming then came out to meet the demand for meat. For poultry breeders, it may be battery cages, which is a housing system used primarily for egg-laying hens. Under the system, 2 to 3 hens are kept in a cage sized of an A4 paper when they still can lay eggs for their entire life. For larger farm animals such as pigs, cattle, or sheep, it's about maximizing the farming density in a limited area, which is known as intensive farming. However, shouldn’t consumers care more about how to produce animal products with high animal welfare, environmental and social sustainability while improving economic efficiency? If such products can be produced, it means that the livestock has both good physical and mental health. Under such an environment, the meat will not only have good quality but also ensure its safety.
The majority might think it’s impossible to change people's eating habits and diet choices, or the mainstream food buying behaviors resulting from the invisible manipulation of this huge food industry. However, they may not have thought that demand would shift when consumers started buying eggs from free-range chickens, organic vegetables and fruits, or antibiotic-free meat; demand would shift when some supermarket chains stop selling battery-caged eggs and intensively raised meat; demand would shift when the national animal husbandry industry begins to develop environmentally friendly ways of raising animals, these will prove that people with determination and ideas can change the world! As Peter Singer, author of 《Animal Liberation》, who had spent 40 years in promoting breeding reform of battery caged egg-laying hens, though it seemed naive to most of the people during the time, after decades of efforts, on January 1st, 2012, battery cage farming was banned across the EU.
References:
https://www.pigprogress.net/Sows/Articles/2019/5/How-to-combine-pig-welfare-and-making-money-424410E/
https://thepigsite.com/articles/improving-pig-welfare-addressing-tail-docking
https://opinion.udn.com/opinion/story/10673/2803532
https://today.line.me/tw/pc/article/%E7%94%A8%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%B0%E5%B9%A3%E4%B8%8B%E6%9E%B6%E3%80%8C%E5%8B%95%E7%A6%8F%E8%9B%8B%E3%80%8D%EF%BC%81%E3%80%80%E5%8F%8B%E5%96%84%E9%A3%BC%E9%A4%8A%E8%AE%93%E8%9B%8B%E9%9B%9E%E9%87%8D%E6%96%B0%E5%B1%95%E7%BF%85-W7K5KL
From an animal rights standpoint, perhaps a fully coiled tail is the most important animal welfare indicator for pigs. Because it represents high-quality management and respect for the integrity of a pig. If a farmer sends his pigs into the slaughterhouse without any sign of tail clipping or tail biting, it is obvious that the farm must have a very good management system. It shows that pigs have plenty of room to move around and that they remain emotionally stable throughout their captivity.
How to maximize the economic benefits of breeding? How to use the limited land to raise enough animals to meet the market need? Intensive farming then came out to meet the demand for meat. For poultry breeders, it may be battery cages, which is a housing system used primarily for egg-laying hens. Under the system, 2 to 3 hens are kept in a cage sized of an A4 paper when they still can lay eggs for their entire life. For larger farm animals such as pigs, cattle, or sheep, it's about maximizing the farming density in a limited area, which is known as intensive farming. However, shouldn’t consumers care more about how to produce animal products with high animal welfare, environmental and social sustainability while improving economic efficiency? If such products can be produced, it means that the livestock has both good physical and mental health. Under such an environment, the meat will not only have good quality but also ensure its safety.
The majority might think it’s impossible to change people's eating habits and diet choices, or the mainstream food buying behaviors resulting from the invisible manipulation of this huge food industry. However, they may not have thought that demand would shift when consumers started buying eggs from free-range chickens, organic vegetables and fruits, or antibiotic-free meat; demand would shift when some supermarket chains stop selling battery-caged eggs and intensively raised meat; demand would shift when the national animal husbandry industry begins to develop environmentally friendly ways of raising animals, these will prove that people with determination and ideas can change the world! As Peter Singer, author of 《Animal Liberation》, who had spent 40 years in promoting breeding reform of battery caged egg-laying hens, though it seemed naive to most of the people during the time, after decades of efforts, on January 1st, 2012, battery cage farming was banned across the EU.
References:
https://www.pigprogress.net/Sows/Articles/2019/5/How-to-combine-pig-welfare-and-making-money-424410E/
https://thepigsite.com/articles/improving-pig-welfare-addressing-tail-docking
https://opinion.udn.com/opinion/story/10673/2803532
https://today.line.me/tw/pc/article/%E7%94%A8%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%B0%E5%B9%A3%E4%B8%8B%E6%9E%B6%E3%80%8C%E5%8B%95%E7%A6%8F%E8%9B%8B%E3%80%8D%EF%BC%81%E3%80%80%E5%8F%8B%E5%96%84%E9%A3%BC%E9%A4%8A%E8%AE%93%E8%9B%8B%E9%9B%9E%E9%87%8D%E6%96%B0%E5%B1%95%E7%BF%85-W7K5KL
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