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End pig farm 'cruelty' demand youngsters

 

 

Young people from across Britain brought a battle to stop pigs being bred in

factory farms to Westminster.

 

About 40 children dressed as pigs shouted slogans calling for an end to

factory farming before crossing Whitehall to deliver a 40,000 signature

petition to Downing Street. The children are members of the animal charity

Viva who claim that conditions inside most British pig farms are cruel and

cause suffering and disease.

 

The protest takes place as pig farmers campaign in nearby Parliament Square

for greater government support.

 

Viva youth campaigner Kate Fowler said: 'In their never-ending demands for

handouts, pig farmers have forgotten to mention that over 90 per cent of all

meat pigs and more than 60 per cent of breeding sows are reared in stinking

factory farms. Diseases are rampant and farmers' irresponsible use of

antibiotics has led to a growth of superbugs which threaten all of us. These

young people are determined to remind the British public that the pigs are

suffering far more than the farmers who at least have a choice,' she added.

 

Another protester, Amy Erridge, 14, from Eastbourne, East Sussex said: 'Pigs

are as intelligent as a domesticated dog and they should be treated

humanely – we have no right to put animals through such cruelty just so some

people can make a little extra cash. Hens will soon be freed from the

battery cages because of protests and now we have to make sure that pigs are

freed as well.'

 

The Meat and Livestock Commission said that British pig farmers had to

follow some of the most strict welfare regimes in the world with heavy cost

penalties. Spokesman Mick Sloyan said: 'The British pig industry has among

the highest independently audited standards in the world. Viva has tried

before to use innuendo and lies against our pig farmers. If they can provide

details of any British farm which is flouting these standards we will pursue

them with the utmost vigour,' Mr Sloyan added.