NSW piggery treated animals like "production machines"

06/08/2012 - Activists have released film they say shows buckets of dead piglets, workers beating sows and fly infestations at a NSW piggery.

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It's believed authorities raided the piggery on Friday night after Animal Liberation delivered footage of filthy conditions and cruel slaughtering practices.

"This piggery is one of the worst examples of factory farming where animals are treated like 'production machines' and no thought is given to their capacity to suffer," the group's NSW executive director Mark Pearson said.

"Images also included buckets of dead piglets, a sledge hammer used to bludgeon pigs, and sows with open sores."

The CEO of industry lobby Australian Pork Limited, Andrew Spencer, said he was "utterly appalled" at the footage.

"The majority of pork producers in Australia rigorously adhere to world best practice when it comes to animal welfare," he said in a statement.

"There is no way that we can tolerate treating pigs like this."

Pearson told reporters his group gathered and verified footage for two months before contacting authorities on Thursday.

He said pigs were notoriously difficult to kill humanely.

"Out of all the animals that go through an abattoir the ones that stay conscious longest are pigs," he said on Saturday.

"You've got to be really on the ball."

Animal Liberation last year released footage of animals being mistreated at Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors, in Sydney's northwest, prompting the government to shut the facility down and launch reforms to safeguard animal welfare in the state.

From July 1 next year, it will be compulsory for NSW abattoirs to have animal welfare officers monitor and take responsibility for the wellbeing of animals.

Random audits of animal welfare compliance will also be ramped up.

Police would not comment except to say that investigations were continuing.

RSPCA NSW Chief Inspector David O'Shannessy later confirmed the organisation was investigating a complaint against the piggery.

Representatives from the Animal Welfare League, the Department of Primary Industries and the NSW Food Authority were also present during a visit to the site on Friday.

O'Shannessy told reporters the facility's operations had not been suspended and investigations were continuing.

Source: AAP

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Have your say...

Russell Anderson | 6/08/2012 11:21 1

How do these people sleep at night after performing such acts! Prosecute them.

sylvia | 6/08/2012 14:11 2

I am speechless at the cruelty of some humans. To beat an animal to death, ignoring its squeals takes a certain type of person, one I certainly would not want anywhere near my family! Prosecute the perpetrators, the managers and the owners. They are all responsible.

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