Following on the heels of praising the nation’s largest pork producer for “perhaps the most monumental advance for animal welfare in history of modern American agribusiness,” The Humane Society of the United States today challenged other U.S. pork producers to beat Smithfield’s timeline and phase out the confinement of breeding sows in gestation crates over the next five years. Yesterday(Jan 25th), Smithfield Foods announced it will phase out this unnecessary, abusive confinement of pigs over the next decade.
“The writing is on the wall—there is no place for gestation crates in American agriculture," stated Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "With the tidal wave of corporate and public opinion building against gestation crates, it's time for the pork industry to end the use of these cruel confinement devices."
Across the country, state governments and retailers have been voicing opposition to the abuse inherent in gestation crates. In 2002, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a 2002 initiative to ban gestation crates, and in 2006, 62 percent of Arizona voters voted to support a similar measure, despite a vigorous industry-funded campaign to defeat it. The HSUS has been considering replicating these campaigns in other states in the 2008 elections. And major retailers such as Whole Foods Natural Marketplace refuse to purchase pork from suppliers that use gestation crates.
The soon-to-be-introduced federal Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act in Congress, by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.), would mandate that the federal government not purchase, among other things, pork from producers that use gestation crates. The HSUS is calling on Congress to quickly enact this sensible food policy, and is calling on state legislatures to ban gestation crates.
"Crated sows have been shown to suffer from a number of significant welfare problems, including foot and leg disorders, urinary tract infections, and a nearly complete frustration of natural behaviors," said Michael Greger, M.D., HSUS director of public health and animal agriculture. "The chronic stress of confinement has been shown to impair the immune systems of pregnant pigs and may make these animals more susceptible to pathogens with human public health significance such as Streptococcus suis and influenza."
Gestation crates are two-foot by seven-foot metal cages that confine breeding pigs on factory farms. The sows are confined in the crates for nearly their entire four-month pregnancy. After giving birth, they are re-impregnated and placed back in the crates, enduring perhaps 8 or 10 successive pregnancies in the crates before they are reproductively "spent." The crates are so restrictive that the animals can't even turn around for months on end. Confinement in gestation crates is so abusive that the entire European Union is phasing out the practice, with a total ban taking effect in 2013. Numerous American animal scientists also oppose these cruel crates.
Pacelle added, "It's time for Smithfield's competitors to realize that they can avoid more legislative fights by proactively ending their use of gestation crates."
Under Smithfield's plan, breeding sows will instead be housed in group pens in which they have some freedom of movement and the ability to socialize. C. Larry Pope, CEO of Smithfield Foods, stated in a press release, "While this will be a significant financial commitment for our company over the next 10 years, we believe it's the right thing to do."
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